The contract price of PC DRAM chips is expected to rise between 5 and 10 percent sequentially next quarter as reduced production has caused supply constraints, Taipei-based researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) forecast.
That paved the way for global DRAM chipmakers to post record-high revenues again after last year’s US$35.2 billion.
TrendForce attributed the decline in production of PC DRAM chips to a slower-than-expected industrial transition to 25-nanometer (nm) technology and major suppliers’ allocation of more PC DRAM capacity for mobile DRAM, the researcher said in a report issued on Thursday.
Samsung Electronics Co, which commands about 36 percent of the global DRAM market, is expected to maintain its current PC DRAM output to meet demand for its mobile products and servers, TrendForce said.
As most PC makers’ inventories remain relatively low, they have turned to DRAM module makers to buy chips rather than sourcing from DRAM chipmakers, it added.
“The chip price sentiment is rising,” TrendForce said.
Taiwanese DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) has expressed optimism about next quarter, with company spokesman Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) saying last week that better-than-expected corporate PC demand boosted the average price in April, two months earlier than he expected.
Adata Technology Co (威剛科技), the nation's top DRAM module maker, has also expected tight supply to emerge next quarter.
Shares in Nanya Technology were unchanged at NT$7.2 yesterday, while the stock prices of its DRAM joint venture with Micron Technology Inc Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) and Adata rose 0.31 percent and 1.31 percent to NT$49.15 and NT$77.3, respectively. The TAIEX slipped 0.09 percent.
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