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.
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.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
RSS