Prices of DRAM, and NAND flash memory chips plunged in October as per a Korean report. The reason for the downfall is reportedly the US’ sanction on Huawei that recently came into effect.
According to a research firm DRAMeXchange(via TheElec) prices of PC DDR4 8GB DRAM, 128GB NAND flash memory card. And USB MLC products fell to $2.85, and $4.2 in October respectively. In fact, the drop from August and September is about 8.9% for the DRAM. And 3.4% for the memory chips above. The report also says that the drop is higher than the 5% drop in July for DRAM. This drop was after a sudden soar in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation.
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That said the report says the average selling price of PC DRAM will continue to fall in Q4 2020. It could reach as high as a 10% drop as the oversupply situation is imminent. The reason these prices dint drop that much in Q3 was the heavy stockpiling of Huawei after US ban. Further, South Korean giant Samsung also said that it expects Q4 to be dull for server chips demand as demand lessens, and competition rises.
Before you conclude a catastrophe, the report breathes confidence that the memory market will likely recover next year. Although there isn’t a proper timeline, somewhere before the first half of 2021 should do it. Similarly, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International(SEMI) predicts that semiconductor fab spending will rise by 18% in 2021.
The impending YoY(year-on-year) demand for Memory chips has forced companies like Samsung to reportedly invest in fab facilities before the situation gets out of hand. This could probably make up for the worst situation it faced this year due to the pandemic.
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