The average spot price of computer memory chips is expected to bounce back by between 10 and 20 percent in the third quarter on the back of a dwindling surplus and back-to-school demand, Taipei-based market researcher DRAMeXchange Technology Inc (集邦科技) said yesterday.
The price of benchmark computer memory chips should increase from US$1.97 per unit as a result of seasonal PC shopping and a drop in supply primarily from Rexchip Electronics Corp (瑞晶), the researcher said.
That spot price could reach as high as US$2.4 per unit, a level approaching the costs of major makers of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips.
A boost in orders from computer makers, which usually procure memory chips from DRAM makers on a contractual basis, should also drive up prices, the researcher said.
But, DRAMeXchange said next quarter’s recovery in prices might not be enough of a turnaround to end months of losses at DRAM suppliers that have been hurt by the glut.
“DRAMeXchange believes that the rebound will not be strong enough next quarter for DRAM suppliers to end their quarters-long losses because of the overcapacity-driven slump,” said an analyst at DRAMeXchange who declined to be named.
Rexchip, a memory chip joint venture between the nation’s biggest DRAM maker — Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), and Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc — said in April it would expand its monthly production in the second quarter by 30 percent quarter-on-quarter to as much as 75,000 12-inch wafers.
Powerchip said yesterday that its sales last month rose 6.52 percent to NT$6.21 billion from a year ago and 2 percent month-on-month as a result of stable DRAM prices and operation efficiency.
That brought Powerchip’s revenues in the second quarter to NT$17.44 billion, up 1 percent from a year ago and 18 percent from the first quarter.
ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), the nation’s third-largest DRAM supplier, said yesterday that last month’s sales rose 17 percent year-on-year and 6 percent month-on-month to NT$3.52 billion. The company saw NT$9.51 billion in revenues in the second quarter.
Improving demand from notebook computer makers and better operating efficiency at its 12-inch plants helped produce the better results, ProMOS spokesman Ben Tseng (曾邦助) said in a statement.
ProMOS and Powerchip sell about 70 percent of their DRAM chips on the spot market.
Shares of ProMOS and Powerchip jumped 2.89 percent and 3.05 percent respectively to NT$6.05 and NT$9.11 yesterday, compared with a 0.73 percent loss on the benchmark TAIEX index.
Shares of the nation’s No. 2 DRAM maker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) climbed 5.86 percent to NT$14.45.
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