In addition to the tight market for commodity DRAM chips, supply of specialty DRAM (SDRAM) parts is also falling short of demand, according to industry sources. Prices for 512Mbit DDR, a key part for multi-chip package (MCP) memory products used mainly in mobile handsets, have risen over 40% in the past month due to tight supply.
Average spot prices for 512Mb (64Mbit×8) SDRAM have been pushed up to over US$2.20 from US$1.53 a month earlier, the sources indicated.
Meanwhile, demand for 64Mb and 32Mb DDR memory in handsets, DVD players, HDDs, consumer electronics and home appliance products has also grown to outstrip supply, the sources said.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC)'s recent withdrawal from the SDRAM foundry business has also led to a further squeeze in the chip supply, according to the sources. SMIC, which used to allocate capacity of around 20,000 wafers for production of SDRAM chips, discontinued the line earlier this year, the sources said.