14 DAY TRIAL // There are things that can always be guessed at based on existing data, but it looks like the DRAM market is one whose outlook has companies divided between the optimistic and those not very so.
Many users might not have made a habit of keeping tabs on the financial aspect of the IT market, but the fact remains that this aspect defines affordability of products as much as performance and efficiency do.
On the semiconductor front, things appear to have been progressing according to a somewhat troublesome trend.
While chip sales did manage to exhibit a slight rise during the Month of May, the DRAM segment, when viewed individually, has been faring rather badly.
This became more than obvious just several days ago, when prices got so low that DRAM makers refused to let them slide further, regardless of the fact that demand is still weak.
This has made those involved, as well as analysts, particularly careful when analyzing future prospects, and it looks like people are divided in regards to what they expect of the future of memory.
While it is generally agreed that NAND chips will continue to overshadow DRAM and that prices will either stay low or start falling again in July.
It might be possible for prices to rebound in August somehow, since seasonal demand usually increases around that time.
Until then, however, stagnant PC demand and the reluctance of OEMs to raise memory content per box will not really allow for any positive evolution.
The outlook for NAND Flash memory is somewhat similar, although less pessimistic overall, since there is, at least, some certainty that the middle of the first quarter will yield improvements, whereas the aforementioned DRAM price recovery is just a possibility that could easily fail to come about. As for the fourth quarter, no speculations have been made for now.