‘Dram prices have more than doubled’

Average prices for dram have risen 111 percent in the past 12 months, IC Insights claims. The market researcher predicts that the price per bit will rise more than 40 percent in 2017.

According to IC Insights, a research firm that specializes in the semiconductor market, the further price increase is due to the fact that production capacity initially lags behind demand. In the long run, production will increase and prices will fall.

In July 2016, overcapacity allowed dram buyers to haggle the lowest price, driving the memory manufacturers at a loss. Since then, shortages have arisen in the market and manufacturers can ask for what they want for the dram, claims the research firm. The three largest memory manufacturers, Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, were able to record record profits last quarter.

Traditionally, there is always one or several manufacturers who increase production accordingly. Micron has indicated that it will no longer process wafers, but want to switch to a smaller node to be able to extract more memory chips from wafers. SK Hynix does want to increase the wafer capacity. It is not known what Samsung’s plans are.

At the beginning of this year, DrameXchange, a research firm that focuses on the memory market, already predicted that the prices of dram would continue to rise for months. The market researcher explained the high demand for dram for smartphones.