NAND Flash chip prices are likely to hike soon as major suppliers including Micron Technology and SK Hynix reportedly have informed downstream memory clients that they have run out their inventories of NAND Flash parts, according to industry sources.

　　Contract quotes for NAND Flash parts already showed a slight 2-4% increase in the first half of June, and the upward price momentum is likely to continue in the third quarter of 2014, as rising demand for new Apple products, China-made smartphones, and SSDs will begin to constrain NAND Flash supplies available to the channel clients, pointed out DRAMeXchange.

　　But it is worth to note that Micron is actually reducing sales of its NAND Flash to clients outside the company, while shifting its support to strengthen the sale of its Crucial brand SSD products, indicated the sources.

　　Micron aims to double Crucial SSD shipments quarter-by-quarter, which will consume a lot of its NAND Flash parts, the sources added.

　　For the new iPhones to be released in the second half of 2014, Apple has placed major NAND Flash orders with SanDisk and a small volume with SK Hynix, noted the sources.

　　Demand for SSD products has been growing at a rapid pace since the beginning of 2014, with 256GB models beginning to replace 128GB ones, said the sources, adding that rising demand for enterprise-use SSD devices and cloud servers will further drive the NAND Flash market.