According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the 2H’Oct NAND Flash contract prices have dropped by 2-8% (compared to 1H’Oct) due to weak market demand. In the periods following the fire accident at SK Hynix's Wuxi plant, SK Hynix and Samsung both allocated portions of their NAND Flash capacity to DRAM as a means to compensate for lost DRAM production.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the penetration rate of SD 3.0 memory cards may only be around 10% in 2013. The main reason for this is that the SD 3.0 format has yet to be widely adopted in system products (for instance, smartphones, tablets, and cameras), and that the majority of the demand comes only from the channel market, which has fewer shipments proportionally compared to system OEM market. In the event that the above situations gradually improve, the penetration rate of SD 3.0 memory cards has a legitimate shot of approaching 20% in 2014.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the highest price for the mainstream 4GB modules has reached $US 34 due to the supply shortages resulting from SK Hynix’s fire accident and the continuous contract price uptrend. The price represents an estimated 6.25% increase compared to the amount observed in September. Calculating on the basis of the aforementioned figure, the 4Gb chip price translates to approximately $US 3.94, which is close to the $US 4 mark, and only 8% lower than the highest 4Gb chip price in the spot market ($US 4.25). By the time the contract prices are announced in 2H’October, it is expected that the difference between the contract price and spot price will grow smaller.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the market transactions were sluggish in 1H'October due to the underwhelming Chinese holiday sales and the conservative attitude displayed towards the market situation for Thanksgiving and Christmas. While SK Hynix's Wuxi plant fire accident prompted some manufacturers to allocate portions of their NAND Flash capacity to DRAM, the mainstream NAND Flash contract prices have stayed mostly flat throughout1H'October.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the 2H'Sep NAND Flash contract prices grew by 3-6% (compared to 2H’August) due to the expectations of a lowered NAND Flash supply following the Wuxi plant’s fire accident.