The supply of server DRAM chips will remain tight but improve in the third quarter of 2018, with the memory contract prices set to stabilize, according to DRAMeXchange.

Server DRAM contract prices rose 10% sequentially in the first half of 2018. The memory price rally will start to slow down in the third quarter, said DRAMeXchange, adding that the current tight supply may ease in the second half of the year.

Suppliers have allocated more of their available capacities to server DRAM products, which helps relieve the memory tight supply, DRAMeXchange indicated.

Prices for 32GB server modules that will be shipped to the first-tier firms in the third quarter may advance by 1-2% to US$320, DRAMeXchange said.

Meanwhile, the growing adoption of new server platforms - Intel's Purley and AMD's Naples - will boost the average content per box of server DRAM and the penetration rate of high-density modules such as 32GB ones in the second half of 2018, DRAMeXchange noted. Demand for the second half of the year is sustainable, with demand for Intel's new solutions to be robust with shipments mainly for data centers in North America and China, DRAMeXchange said.

DRAMeXchange also forecast that the penetration rate of Intel's Purley platform will approach 80% in the fourth quarter of 2018, up from over 50% currently, while the penetration rate of 32GB server modules will exceed 70% by the end of the year.

In addition, DRAMeXchange suggested that 20nm will remain the mainstream process for DRAM in 2018. Demand for high-density server modules will be strong through the end of the year, thanks to the new platform availabilities.

DRAMeXchange also said that DRAM suppliers except Samsung will not be able to enter mass production of server DRAM chips built using more advanced 1Xnm process technology until the fourth quarter of 2018. Samsung has moved its newer 18nm process to mass production for server products, DRAMeXchange added.

By: DocMemory
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