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The average contract price of PC DRAM 4GB modules has risen during the fourth quarter by 2.86 per cent between October and November 2016, DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce.
Average prices of DDR3 and DDR4 4GB chips also rose to six per cent and two per cent monthly adding up to $2.6 billion and $2.53 billion. It appears the general state of the PC DRAM market this month will continue its upwards price trend, according to the insight and analyst company.
Research director at DRAMeXchange, Avril Wu said: “DRAM prices continue to move up in the fourth quarter because the general demand for various DRAM products is still very strong and end device manufacturers are now replenishing their inventories in preparation for the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays in 2017.”
DRAMeXchange also points out that recent negotiations over supply contracts for the first quarter of 2017 demonstrate the average contract price of PC DRAM will continue to increase price wise. The worldwide average selling price of DRAM chips is expected to remain the same or grow as well.
The likes of Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron will play a part in lowering DRAM demand early next year. This will ensure their influence on the market continues to remain under sellers’ control, the report suggests.
Wu also pointed out that PC systems will see a significant increase in memory: “This trend will especially become apparent next year, when suppliers adopt the 20nm process as their main manufacturing technology for PC DRAM and make 8Gb chips as the main product in their shipments. The prevalence of 8Gb chips will compel PC-OEMs to equip their devices with 8GB modules rather than the 4GB counterparts because the former will become more obtainable than the latter."
