Prices of specialty DRAM are set to rise another 10% in May, with a prospect that shortages of the niche memory chips could worsen in the third quarter of 2013, according to industry sources.
SDRAM prices have rallied since March due to tight supply, said the sources. In anticipation of severe shortages, fabless firms including Etron Technology, Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology (ESMT) and Zentel Electronics have recently approached their foundry partners and others trying to secure steady supplies, the sources pointed out.
Several memory IC design companies are also switching quarterly contracts with foundries to ones on a monthly basis, which allows quotes to more quickly reflect changes in supply and demand, the sources said.
In addition, some memory designers have purchased directly the available 512Mb, 1Gb and 2Gb chips from Taiwan-based Nanya Technology, instead of placing contract orders with Nanya's 12-inch fab, in order to stockpile their inventory for the upcoming peak season, the sources observed.
Industry observers also speculated that the current shortage of SDRAM chips is caused by SK Hynix' plans to speed up its transition to 20nm process technology. SK Hynix has allocated a portion of SDRAM capacity for advanced mobile DRAM chips using the newer node, the observers revealed.
SDRAM is in short supply as chipmakers allocate more capacity for mobile DRAM
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