Prices for new-generation computer memory chips, or DDR3, are expected to extend past a two-week uptrend this month as PC makers are shipping more PCs outfitted with more memory to encourage replacement demand, market researcher DRAMeXchange Technology Inc (集邦科技) said yesterday.
Supply constraints have driven the price up 23 percent for mainstream DDR3 chips to US$3.10 per unit, from US$2.45 apiece over the two-week period ending on Friday, the Taipei-based research house said in its latest report.
Demand for DDR3 chips is expected to surge in the first quarter as PC makers seek to boost shipments of computers equipped with DDR3 chips this quarter to make up 60 percent of their total PC shipments, DRAMeXchange said.
That would match plans by US chip giant Intel Corp. Intel intends to increase the share of its chipsets supporting DDR3 to 60 percent of its overall chipset shipments in the current quarter, the researcher said.
“The strong demand could cause tight supply of DDR3 chips in the first quarter, which used to be a slack season,” DRAMeXchange said. “Memory chipmakers expect contract prices to remain stable this month as PC makers have increased orders to cope with a possible shortage.”
Second-tier PC makers would face short supply of DDR3 chips because of limited production, the researcher said.
Shipments of notebook computers are expected to grow 22.5 percent to 196 million units this year, from 160 million units last year, as more PC users upgrade their operating system after the release of Microsoft Corp’s Windows 7 operating system, DRAMeXchange said.
Taiwan, once considered a major player in the DRAM sector, seems to have suffered as local DRAM companies saw serious losses in the latest industrial slump and cannot afford the expensive technological migration necessary to manufacture new chips in the most cost-effective manner.
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s top DRAM maker, is the major DDR3 supplier in Taiwan. In October, the Taoyuan-based chipmaker said shipments of DDR3 could account for 40 percent of its total DRAM shipments at the end of last year, which could rise to 50 percent in the current quarter.
Smaller rival Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) also started shipping DDR3 chips using less-advanced technology.
ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), Taiwan’s No. 3 DRAM supplier, only makes DDR2 chips and is in talks with local chipmakers to sell an advanced plant in Hsinchu to raise funds to buy new equipment.
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
Japanese technology giant Softbank Group Corp said Tuesday it has sold its stake in Nvidia Corp, raising US$5.8 billion to pour into other investments. It also reported its profit nearly tripled in the first half of this fiscal year from a year earlier. Tokyo-based Softbank said it sold the stake in Silicon Vally-based Nvidia last month, a move that reflects its shift in focus to OpenAI, owner of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT. Softbank reported its profit in the April-to-September period soared to about 2.5 trillion yen (about US$13 billion). Its sales for the six month period rose 7.7 percent year-on-year
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
MORE WEIGHT: The national weighting was raised in one index while holding steady in two others, while several companies rose or fell in prominence MSCI Inc, a global index provider, has raised Taiwan’s weighting in one of its major indices and left the country’s weighting unchanged in two other indices after a regular index review. In a statement released on Thursday, MSCI said it has upgraded Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index by 0.02 percentage points to 2.25 percent, while maintaining the weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the most closely watched by foreign institutional investors, at 20.46 percent. Additionally, the index provider has left Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index unchanged at 23.15 percent. The latest index adjustments are to
RSS