Sat, Jan 04, 2025 page9

• DRAM price falls tipped to increase

  • By Lisa Wang / Staff reporter
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  The downward trend of DRAM chip prices is expected to accelerate this quarter at a quarterly pace of 13 percent at the steepest amid weakness in demand for products such as PCs and server DRAM chips, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday.

  The Taipei-based researcher attributed the industry-wide slump to a seasonal downcycle for consumer electronics, primarily smartphones, and sagging demand for PCs, as notebook computer vendors have prebuilt DRAM inventory to cope with the possibility that the US would impose new tariffs after US president-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

  Prices of standard DRAM chips, mostly for PCs, are expected to slide 8 to 13 percent sequentially this quarter, deeper than last quarter’s drop, which would be 5 to 10 percent, TrendForce said.

  

  An SK Hynix Inc 128GB DDR5 memory module is pictured at the Semiconductor Exhibition in Seoul on Wednesday.

  Photo: Bloomberg

  Including high-bandwidth memory chips used for servers, standard DRAM prices would be flat or fall at a milder pace of 5 percent quarter-on-quarter this quarter, it said.

  Among standard PC DRAM chips, DDR4 chips are to suffer the brunt of demand weakness amid overcapacity in China, with prices likely to plunge 10 to 15 percent this quarter, faster than a quarterly decline of 8 to 13 percent last quarter, TrendForce said.

  Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s biggest DRAM chipmaker, mainly produces DDR4 memory chips and a few older-generation DDR3 memory chips.

  The company said it is in the process of migrating part of its DDR4 capacity to the production of DDR5 memory chips, which are used in a wider range of electronic devices than DDR4 chips.

  The memorychip maker has reported losses for the past eight quarters.

  Server DRAM chip prices would fall 5 to 10 percent this quarter from this quarter due to seasonal weakness, TrendForce said, adding that they are expected to have risen 5 percent at most last quarter.

  Prices of DDR4 server DRAM chips are to tumble 10 to 15 percent this quarter, more drastic than last quarter’s decline of 8 to 13 percent amid high inventories on supply chains and increased supply from China, the researcher said.

  The prices of DDR5 server DRAM chips are to fall 3 to 8 percent sequentially this quarter, the same as last quarter, it said.

  Prices of mobile DRAM chip prices are to dip 3 to 13 percent quarter-on-quarter this quarter, as smartphone makers tend to take a conservative approach to chip sourcing after their inventory returns to healthy levels, TrendForce said.

  Prices for DRAM chips used in consumer electronics plummeted 3 to 15 percent, a slide from a quarterly decrease of 5 to 10 percent last quarter, the researcher said.

  Sagging demand for consumer electronics and scant room for growth in DRAM content per box are bad news for consumer electronics DRAM chips, TrendForce said.
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