NAND pricing expected to fall up to 10 percent in Q2 2019

Solid state disks are expected to get even cheaper in the second quarter of this year. Industry sources told DigiTimes that NAND flash prices are expected to fall up to 10 percent next quarter, which is actually a slower pace drop than previous quarters. NAND pricing has been fallen since 2018 due to an increase in supply and sluggish server demand.

Industry leader Samsung has aggressively cut its NAND flash quotes in the first quarter aiming to accelerate inventory digestion in the supply chain, the sources noted. As a result of Samsung's price-cutting strategy, the industry inventory correction is about to come to an end between the end of March and early April, the sources said.

Samsung's aggressive price cuts are set to have a negative impact on other chipmakers' profitability in the first quarter, given that NAND flash prices have come close to cash costs for many manufacturers, according to the sources.

The site also writes that pricing may increase again in the third quarter, if server demand picks up again.