The current DDR2 SDRAM shortage is expected to persist through late March with vendors proposing further contract price hikes in the arena, according to a report from DRAMeXchange on Wednesday (March 1).

DDR2 SDRAM contract prices are expected to grow by a minimum of 5-to-10 percent sequentially in the first half of March, while standard DDR SDRAM tags should stay flat, according to the DRAM clearing house.

From Feb. 21-28, overall demand for DDR2 parts in the contract market exceeded 70 percent on average, but demand remained as low as 10 percent on the spot market, according to the firm. The overall DDR2 demand ratio averaged 55-to-60 percent, which is higher than the output ratio of 39 percent, according to the firm.

This represents at least the second DDR2 price hike this year alone. Early last mont, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc., two of the largest makers of DRAMs, raised their DDR2 prices amid a DRAM shortages.

Market research firm iSuppli Corp. said the situation is being exacerbated by Samsung and Hynix converting production lines from NAND to DRAM. Two other suppliers, Infineon Technologies AG and Elpida Memory Inc., announced plans to increase DRAM shipments, according to the firm.

Overall, the DRAM market was weak from Feb 21-28. DRAMeXchange’s index, the DXI1, slipped by 0.36 percent or 11 points to 3,031 from Feb 21-28.

Spot prices for DDR parts rebounded, but global DRAM output dropped by 0.4 percent in January over December, according to the firm. Global DRAM output dropped by 671.8 million units in January, with DDR and DDR2 production down by 0.3 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.

By: DocMemory
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