[Insights] Memory Spot Price Update: DDR4/ DDR5 Price Decline Has Begun to Moderate despite Weak Demand

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According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, regarding DRAM, price decline for both DDR4 and DDR5 products has begun to moderate, as sellers realize that further price reductions are unlikely to spur procurement activities. As for NAND flash, the price reduction of eMMC has gradually subsided. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

As in the previous weeks, the transaction momentum in the spot market has yet to show any improvement this week. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) has dropped by 0.33% from US$1.840 last week to US$1.834 this week. TrendForce has made the following observations:

(1) Module houses are currently prioritizing inventory reduction, resulting in sufficient supply in the spot market.

(2) The price decline for both DDR4 and DDR5 products has begun to moderate. However, this is not due to an improvement in the demand situation, but because sellers realize that further price reductions are unlikely to spur procurement activities.

(3) DDR4 products have a weaker procurement momentum compared with DDR5 products, indicating that demand has largely shifted to the DDR5 generation.

(4) Looking ahead to 1Q25, the strategy of lowering inventory levels is expected to continue. The overall trend of spot prices will be similar to that in 4Q24, remaining weak.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

The spot market also lingers amidst enervation this week. Observations on market performance are as follows:

(1) Buyers are not rushing in procurement as module houses, channels, and suppliers are all equipped with sufficient stocks.

(2) Sellers understand that an ongoing price drop would not be able to generate demand having seen the recently subsided price reduction of eMMC, after a significant depletion previously.

(3) Sluggish market demand has led to constant piling up of inventory among module houses, which further inhibits their purchase momentum on wafers, and results in continuous accumulation of inventory among suppliers. The end result is the surging inventory for both the upstream and downstream sectors of the supply chain.

Spot prices of 512Gb TLC wafers have dropped by 0.63% this week, arriving at US$2.380.