[Digital Times, Park Seul-gee] Memory semiconductor prices have continued to strengthen throughout the first half of this year. Demand for memory semiconductors is expected to remain strong in the second half of this year as well.

According to DRAMeXchange on July 3, the average contract price (fixed transaction price) of `DDR4 4Gb 512Mx8 2133MHz DDR4`, which is a general purpose product for PCs, remained the same for the third consecutive month at USD 3.09.

DRAMExchange representative said, "Most PC OEM customers set quarterly prices in early second quarter and did not offer new prices in June, so there was no price fluctuation. 30 ~ 40% shortage of supply has occurred with the Chinese server market expanding rapidly."

DRAMeXchange expects overall DRAM prices to rise 3 to 5 % from the previous quarter, mainly due to higher prices for server and mobile DRAMs in the third quarter. DRAMeXchange stated that as the mainstream TV market moves from full HD to ultra-high resolution (UHD), demand for related equipment such as Blu-ray players will increase, leading to a rise in DRAM prices.

In the same period, the price of 128Gb 16Gx8 MLC, USB general purpose NAND flash, was USD 5.55, up 0.54% from the previous month. NAND flash prices started rising at the end of June last year for more than a year, up 54.2% a year. DRAMeXchange official stated, "The supply of NAND flash such as SLC (single level cell) and MLC (multi level cell) is insufficient compared to demand, and the price will continue to rise."

Samsung Electronics, the No. 1 DRAM and NAND flash market leader, is expected to post an operating profit of KRW 7 trillion in the second quarter of the year. SK Hynix`s operating profit is estimated to be around KRW 3 trillion in the second quarter, which is expected to reach 6.5 times of the second quarter operating profit.

By Park Seul Gee seul@


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