Despite a mild price drop in the DRAM spot market, major vendors have been able to raise quotes for both DDR2 and DDR3 in the contract market in the first half of April. A mild price hike also occurred in the NAND flash segment, thanks to price revisions by leading players according to inSpectrum.
Contract price for 2GB DDR2 and DDR3 module has posted a 6% and 3% sequential growth in the first half of April to US$41.6 and US$45.1, respectively, translating to US$2.48 and US$2.69 per Gb.
Most PC vendors, despite higher memory bills-of-materials (BOM) costs, have accepted the price revisions because of short supply of both DDR2 and DDR3, and lean inventory levels, inSpectrum explained.
The price revision for DDR2 has been stronger than DDR3, thanks to a stronger average selling price (ASP) rally in the spot market in March. As of April 9, spot price for the same density DDR2 and DDR3 was still at least 20% higher than their contract prices, crippling buyers' bargaining chips, the firm said.
Already enjoying a decent margin, most DRAM vendors are aware that the price revision should be proposed in a mild fashion. Major PC vendors have seen their memory BOM costs rise by low single digits of 11-13%, inSpectrum estimated.
As for the DRAM spot market, price correction continued to take place this week (April 6-9) with a 1-2% drop. As of noon of April 9, 1Gb DDR2 and DDR3 were priced at US$3 and US$3.03, respectively.
In the NAND flash contract market, a mild price rise was seen in the mainstream 16Gb and 32Gb multi-level cell (MLC) segments, thanks to price hike at leading vendors for their old process.
The fundamental pricing environment is favorable to vendors, most of whom still see the majority of their output reserved by OEM customers, inSpectrum said, adding there are signs of inventory replenishments by Apple.
Some USB drive and memory card makers have shifted to old process chips to avoid remodeling costs from the latest process. Therefore, some leading flash vendors have been able to raise their quotes, the firm added.
Similar situation also occurred in the NAND flash spot market this week, resulting in a 1% growth for 16Gb MLC NAND flash, said inSpectrum.