14 DAY TRIAL // DRAM prices have been falling over the past few months, leading to very cheap modules, but it seems this particular segment of the industry may finally overcome the oversupply issues and see said prices stabilizing.
Contract quotes of DRAM chips have been declining since last year, for multiple reasons.
Among other things, makers of memory products advanced to better manufacturing processes and this led to a fast rise in supply.
Demand, sadly, was not able to keep up, and vendors were forced to keep reducing average selling prices in order to encourage customers to buy more.
This drop in contract quotes has been a constant issue for the past few months but it seems some stability is finally nearing.
As reported by Digitimes, prices are getting close to what one may call a bottom, since vendors have reached the point where they are unwilling to make further cuts, or will reach it soon enough.
Mainstream 2 GB DDR3 modules are quoted flat at US$17, which corresponds to US$0.94 per Gigabit.
This was the situation during the first half of February, while high-density 4 GB DDR3 modules dropped by a mild 3%. to US$1,87 per 2 Gb, US$34 in total.
The consensus is now that no further price cuts will be made and renegotiations will be a must now that the Chinese Lunar New Year is past.
Of course, there is the fact that OEMs don't really buy much in terms of memory during February, since this is the slow PC season.
Most of them have even reduced their overall inventories to four weeks or less, instead of 4-6 weeks as in Q3 2010. Also, Intel's 6-Series chipset flaw and the impact it will have on notebook and motherboard sales will likely keep them unwilling to buy overmuch.
Still, this reluctance may ease up as the end of the ongoing month approaches, meaning that suppliers of DRAM may finally have a reason to look to the future with optimism.