The spot price for the mainstream DDR400 has fallen below $3.75 from $4.04 in January, as shown in the graph below. Likewise, the eTT price has dropped 3/4 from $3.68 in the beginning of the year to close at $2.51 this week – a decline of three percentage points in two months, which panics the market. The contract price of DDR400 for the first half of March declines 10 percentage points when compared to the second half of February, while DDRII512 Mb tumbles 21 percentage points. Market players are downbeat about the price outlook.

The sharp drop in prices last week was a result of Hynix dumping the memory chips at low prices in the Asian market in February, continuing a recent tumble with the eTT price touching a trough of $2.5. Despite a mild recovery in early March, the prices of the mainstream chips still hover at their lows

According to the estimate of global output by DRAMeXchange in January, production totals 448.8 million 256Mb equivalent units. We projected production of 471 million units in February, an increase of nearly 5 percentage points, which indicates output in the 12-inch wafer plants are gradually increasing. However, it remains to be seen whether the price will remain at current levels with a continued increase in output and the DRAM industry entering its low season