According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the holiday sales momentum and stabilized market shipments are both helping PC-OEMs to digest their inventory. The 1H’Dec contract prices have experienced a slight increase as the yield issues experienced by suppliers remain unresolved. For 4GB, the average prices rose by an estimated 3%, climbing from US$ 33 to US$ 34. The 2GB modules, on the other hand, experienced the same amount of price growth (3%) following the massive reductions in their supplies. Due to the above developments, it is predicted that the contract price uptrend will continue throughout 2H’Dec.
Two major trends will emerge in the 2014 SSD market, according to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce. First, PCIe G2 (ie.PCIe Generation 2.0) will replace SATA III as the mainstream item in the high-end SSD market. Second, SATA III TLC SSD will make an impact on the low to mid-end market sectors.
According to DRAMeXchange, a division of global research firm TrendForce, damages from the September 4 fire at SK Hynix’s DRAM fabrication plant in Wuxi, China caused a month-long cease in production, and global DRAM supply decreased by 10% in one single month. Therefore, commodity DRAM price trend, initially projected to fall in the second half of the year, has risen by nearly 20% since the fire. Average contract price for 4GB DRAM reached a high of US$33 in the second half of November. However, SK Hynix placed top priority on resuming operations at the Wuxi fab, immediately sending in hundreds of experts to begin the recovery process and working round the clock to decontaminate the clean room. Shortly after the incident, the memory makers replaced some of the fire-damaged equipment with machinery from its M11 fab, and newly purchased equipment has recently been moved into the Wuxi fab. Currently, SK Hynix is on track for a full recovery by mid-January. TrendForce provides the following update with the latest details regarding the recovery of the Wuxi fab:
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the impressive sales of smartphones and tablets have prompted DRAM manufacturers to gradually shift their focus from PC DRAM to Mobile DRAM since 2010. The proportion of DRAM revenues accounted for by the latter has risen from 14% in 2010 to about 35% this year, and is expected to show continuous growth in the next two years. Based on comparisons of the supply bit growth figures, Mobile DRAM is likely to not only replace PC DRAM as the mainstream DRAM product in 2014, but also show the largest shipment numbers within the industry.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, 2013 has been a critical year for the DRAM industry. Benefiting from the rising smartphone and tablet sales, the first tier DRAM manufacturers gradually shifted their attention to Mobile DRAM, a move which caused the eventual decline in PC DRAM production; In the periods following the fire accident at SK Hynix's Wuxi plant, 4GB module contract prices rose from US$17 to US$33, and gave DRAM manufacturers greater room for profit.