A prolonged decline in contract DRAM chip prices is expected to end next quarter, ahead of expectations, as price increases on the spot market have shored up electronic component buyers’ willingness to rebuild inventory following an inventory correction that lasted five quarters, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday.
The market researcher’s latest forecast contrasted with its prediction last month, when it said that overall DRAM chip prices would drop by a single-digit percentage in the first quarter of next year and that prices would likely fall about 50 percent annually this year.
The positive revision came as spot DRAM chip prices rose 0.4 to 2.08 percent yesterday, according to the DRAMexchange Web site.
With a stockpile of downgraded 1x-nanometer DRAM chips being quickly digested, spot prices started to rise, TrendForce said in a report.
The Taipei-based researcher said DRAM used in servers and graphic cards would be the first beneficiaries, as they have seen robust demand lately.
Contract prices for DRAM used in servers are expected to increase 5 percent next quarter from this quarter, it said.
“The trends indicate that original equipment manufacturers for servers are becoming more proactive in building up their DRAM inventories,” TrendForce said.
That has reflected on significant growth in shipments of mainstream DRAM modules used in servers, buoying the prices of memory chips, it said.
TrendForce attributed the price increases to an unstable supply of DRAM chips built using the 1x-nanometer process technology and robust short-term demand.
Contract chip prices for DRAM used in graphic cards are expected to climb slightly next quarter, as microprocessor makers have reduced their inventories to a healthy level and started buying new GDDR6 chips, the researcher said.
Increasing prices of DRAM used in servers and graphic cards would help bring overall DRAM prices to a flat level next quarter, compared with this quarter, it said.
An extensive price rebound is expected to start in the beginning of the second quarter of next year, it added.
DRAM supply still exceeds demand this quarter and the situation would last for two more quarters, the researcher said.
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