With demand from the Chinese market weaker than expected ahead of the Labor Day holidays and the traditional high season of the fourth quarter also projected to be slower than in previous years, Scott Chen, vice-president of Kingston APAC, indicated that Taiwan's DRAM makers could experience another crisis if demand remains slow over the next 3-4 quarters.
Chen pointed out that companies were too optimistic in early 2010, yet PC sales for the second half of the year have so far been disappointing.
With Samsung Electronics already manufacturing via a 46nm process, it is important for Taiwan-based companies move to a 40nm-class process, below the 60nm and 50nm processes currently used by makers, to prevent losses if the price for 2Gb chips slips to US$1.5, according to industry sources.
Kingston is also expected to stick with its current strategy of no capacity expansion even if orders for DRAM modules and NAND flash products continue growing. The company would simply outsource more orders. Kingston manufactures 70-80% of its products in house, and 2010 shipments for DRAM modules and NAND flash products will rise 10% and 30%, respectively.