Prices of NAND Flash rose in the third quarter as smartphone makers continued to generate robust demand for related products and the technological transition from 2D-NAND to 3-NAND manufacturing reduced the industry’s overall output. The latest report from DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, finds that the revenue of the global NAND Flash industry grew 19.6% sequentially in the third quarter. At the same time, NAND Flash suppliers made larger gains in respective their operating margins compared with the prior quarter.
Client-grade SSDs of mainstream capacities for the PC-OEM market are expected to witness the largest sequential increase in average contract price in almost a year for the fourth quarter of 2016, according to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. Set against the third quarter, the average contract prices in the PC-OEM market for mainstream client-grade SSDs using MLC NAND Flash are estimated to rise by 6~10%. The average prices of mainstream client-grade SSDs carrying TLC NAND Flash are expected rise by 6~9% sequentially in the fourth-quarter PC-OEM market.
