In the first half of August, most DRAM makers and PC OEMs bargained over 256MB DDR modules contract price at the range of US$0.5-1. Memory makers intended to raise quotes by US$1-2 while PC OEMs only accept the raise within the range of US$0.5-1 only. With reference to our checking, most PC OEMs and DRAM makers set 256MB DDR DIMM in the range of $22.50 to $24.50 in the first half of August.

(Note : DRAMeXchange circulated the contract pricings by excluding small portion of trading amount which are set beyond the same level. For example: If one major PC OEM set the contract price in the range of US$22.-$23 and most at US$22.50, while a very selective players set quotes at US$22, we will classified the US$22.5 quotes as 'LOW' level in order to reflect the large trading volume in such segment. Currently, we estimated 30%-40% of contract volume is traded in the 'LOW' level, 50%-60% in 'AVERAGE' and 10%-15% in 'High' based on our definition.)

Premium of DDR2 over DDR modules to eliminate in September

Some Major PC OEMs indicated they observed the premium of DDR2 over DDR modules within the 0%-3% range since the early second quarter while some other PC OEMs still accepted the premium exceeding 10%. According to the latest update for the first half of August, this premium was narrowed down to 5%-6% from 10%+ with some PC OEMs predicting the gap to further shrink within 2-3% in the second half of this month and edge down to zero in September.

DDR SO-DIMMs premium over un-buffered DIMMs to shrink upon production migration

In the past several months, premium of x16Mbit chips, which adopted by DDR/DDR2 SO-DIMMs stayed at over 10% premium over the desktop use DDR/DDR2 un-buffered DIMMs. We observed that the 'HIGH' segment suffered most price narrowing down pressure.

Some PC OEMs explained that they accepted a much higher premium on SO-DIMMs upon the special specification set for specific models. As the transaction volume is limited, these PC OEMs chose to accept the price difference rather than adjusting the specifications upon cost concern. The premium is believed to be eliminated as some models phased out and the better cost structure which memory makers enjoy at such segment.

By Judy Chen, Market Intelligence Team, DRAMeXchange

High-densities NAND Flash prices up 2%, buoyed by huge MP3P demand

Lukewarm transactions were found over the week August 2-8 as most traders and distributors were awaiting for the contract prices that supposed to release on August 5. We observed strong demand for 16Gb and above density NAND Flash growing tight from August as the huge bookings for MP3 players due to limited supply for high-density 16Gb NAND Flash. Since 16Gb NAND Flash only came into mass production recently, its supply is not enough to fulfill current MP3P demand, thus we believe it will also take up 4Gb and 8Gb chips to fulfill 2GB and above demand.

The current steady price trend for high-density NAND Flash seems reflecting the tight supply and encouraged speculation trend. Prices for low-density NAND Flash (1Gb and below), however, remained stable or showed slight decline. Spot prices for week August 2-9 for 8Gb, 4Gb, 2Gb and 1Gb NAND Flash were reported at US$46.23, US$24.27, US$13.52 and US$7.26 on August 8.