DigiTimes heard from Taiwanese memory makers that contract prices of DRAM chips increased by over 10 percent in February. One of the reasons for the price increase is because DRAM makers are allocating more capacity to other markets, with mobile RAM being one of the fastest risers.
The price hike comes in the wake of increases in spot market pricing for PC-use DRAM, to US$1.50 for a 2Gb DDR3 chip for example, the sources indicated. The hike in PC-use DRAM price was because DRAM makers have allocated more capacity for making mobile RAM and server-use DRAM and therefore the total capacity available for PC-use DRAM has decreased, the sources pointed out. Samsung Electronics has left less than 20% of its total DRAM production capacity for PC-use DRAM and SK Hynix has allocated less than 50% of its total capacity, the sources noted. Due to worries about short supply, PC ODMs/OEMs have been willing to purchase despite the price hikes, the sources said.
