DRAM Spot Market

The price trend in the spot market has diverged slightly compared with the price trend in the contract price. Spot prices of DRAM chips and modules rose successively over the previous several weeks. However, the upward momentum has lost steam in recent days due to a lack of channel demand. In the case of module house Kingston, it currently holds a high level of DRAM inventory, so its pricing strategy is more conservative compared with other module houses. Also, since Kingston is the leading module house, spot prices of modules on the whole are constrained from climbing further. For now, buyers and sellers in the spot market are taking a wait-and-see approach. The trajectory of spot prices is expected to become clearer following the finalization of prices for 4Q23 contracts. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) rose by 0.71% from US$1.560 last week to US$1.571 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market

Spot transactions have slightly shrunken recently under insufficient stocks on account of the drastically diminished level of wafer provision from suppliers. On the other hand, buyers who are suppressed in their sentiment of following up with prices, due to the accumulated increment that is already quite significant within the short term, have been relatively restricted in the increase of concluded prices, despite maintaining an upward trend. 512Gb TLC wafer spots have climbed 5.85% this week, arriving at US$2.044.

DRAM Spot Market
Spot prices of chips in the lower price range have started to elevate this week as some NAND Flash suppliers are very committed to raising their spot prices. On the whole, there has been some stabilization of DRAM spot prices, and the overall volume of spot transactions has also increased a bit. Looking ahead in the short term, it remains to be seen whether suppliers’ ongoing production cuts will spur buyers to stock up. However, spot prices are expected to remain mostly flat until the end of this year. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) rose by 0.28% from US$1.450 last week to US$1.454 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market

Buyers, concerned over the cessation of low prices, are continuously proposing order inquiries, though they are hesitant towards following up on prices and hoarding inventory during actual transactions. Continuity of transaction dynamics is not apparent in the spot market, where several packaged dies are seeing repeated fluctuations. Compared to the panicked purchases over the past several weeks, buyers have now composed themselves, and are deciding on procurements based on the recovery of demand. Wafer remains as the category with a clearer inflation tendency, where 512Gb TLC wafer spots have climbed 2.02% in the spot market this week, arriving at US$1.620.

DRAM Spot Market
Compared with last week, transaction prices in the spot market have generally stopped falling, but there is no sustained upward momentum. Although suppliers and other spot sellers have been firm on prices and are unwilling to make further concessions, the overall transaction volume has continued to shrink because there has been no turnaround in the demand for end products. Further observations are needed to determine the trajectory of spot prices in the future. Nevertheless, TrendForce believes that suppliers will need to further expand the scale of their production cuts in 4Q23 in order to effectively reduce their existing inventories. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) dropped by 0.07% from US$1.451 last week to US$1.450 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market
Concluded prices have largely leveled to that of last week without dynamics for ongoing increment. Buyers, despite active stocking behaviors seen recently, are no longer following up on prices aggressively under the yet-to-be-improved level of actual end demand. Subsequent spot price trends will require further observation, though TrendForce believes that NAND Flash suppliers would be forced to expand production cuts during 4Q23 so as to further abate their existing inventory. 512Gb TLC wafer spots have risen by 0.63% this week, arriving at US$1.588.

DRAM Spot Market
Spot prices of DRAM products have risen slightly lately due to Samsung’s earlier attempt to raise prices of 3D NAND Flash wafers as well as the temporary halt in the flow of rebelled used chips into the market. DDR4 products have experienced a more noticeable price increase compared with DDR5 products. However, there is still insufficient actual demand to sustain the rise in spot prices. Furthermore, most spot traders already have sufficient inventory. Therefore, prices have stopped falling, but the overall transaction volume is not expanding. TrendForce believes spot prices are near the trough for this downturn phase of the price cycle. Nevertheless, there is some time before the overall average spot will rebound because demand visibility is limited. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) fell by 0.34% from US$1.456 last week to US$1.451 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market
The intermittent price increases of packaged dies at various capacities are reflecting persistently sluggish market demand, while wafer prices, after several consecutive weeks of elevation in prices, are now gradually subsiding in differences to that of the contract market. 512Gb TLC wafer spots have risen by 3.88% this week, arriving at US$1.578.

DRAM Spot Market
TrendForce has found that in the past week, the supply of used DDR4 chips (that were stripped from decommissioned server DRAM modules) has started to tighten. Therefore, products in the lower price range have also experienced small price hikes. However, the biggest issue still lies with the demand situation. The spot trading of chips and modules will remain tepid as long as buyers lack the willingness to make significant procurements. The average price of the mainstream chips (DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) fell by 0.21% from US$1.460 last week to US$1.457 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market
The spot market is seen with fluctuations of prices among packaged dies at different capacities, though the tendency has not continued regardless. With suppliers constantly increasing their quotations, buyers are still at the wait-and-see end and have yet to fully turn aggressive in the stocking. Wafer prices, after several consecutive weeks of slow increment, are now drawing near the low market price interval. 512Gb TLC wafer spots have risen by 5.49% this week, arriving at US$1.519.