DRAM prices may drop again

Demand from China and Japan has picked up, but Europe and America still remain weak, the makers commented. Overall, 1Gb DDR2 will find it difficult to reach the US$1.5 mark, the makers indicated.

The oversupply-driven downturn in the commodity memory market has improved as a result of production cutbacks and Qimonda's exit from the market, but is still far from a full recovery, the makers said. Ultimately, contract prices for mainstream DDR2 chips went up by only 6-8% in the first half of February, presenting a lower-than-expected gain, according to the makers.