Combined capex at DRAM chipmakers will reach US$7.85 billion in 2010, up 80% from NT$4.3 billion in 2009, according to DRAMeXchange. Despite the significant growth, the projected capex is far below the 2007 level of NT$21.4 billion.

Capex budgets for DRAM makers worldwide will reach US$10-12 billion in 2011 and 2012, a moderate rise compared to 2010, DRAMeXchange forecast.

DDR3 is expected to account for 60% of total DRAM and become the leading technology for PC memory in the first quarter of 2010, said DRAMeXchange, adding that the share will likely reach over 80% in the second half of the year.

With PC vendors having grown their average DRAM content per box to 2.92GB, DRAM makers are seeing a positive outlook for demand in 2010, according to industry sources in Taiwan. The sources expect growing demand for DRAM memory may outpace suppliers' expansion pace next year.

Hynix Semiconductor CEO Jong-Kap Kim was quoted in a recent WSJ report as saying that the DRAM industry will be buoyed by rising chip prices and a rebound in demand for PCs in 2010, as a result of weak capital investment over the past two years and the launch of Windows 7 that is driving a PC replacement cycle.

In other news, DRAMeXchange data show that contract prices for DRAM chips have stayed flat for the latter half of December, beating the firm's earlier estimate of a 5-10% price drop for the entire month. Prices have remained unchanged since the second half of November, with respective quotes for 2GB DDR2 and 2GB DDR3 modules averaging US$41 and US$39.

By: DocMemory
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