DRAM Prices: Calm before the Storm?

Experts believe that DRAM prices are near rock bottom. Inventories remain strong, which means that prices are not likely to increase significantly anytime soon. As DRAM prices increased just slightly on Thursday and Friday, shares of Samsung, the number 1 DRAM chip maker, rose 3.9%. Other major DRAM manufacturers, including Hynix, Elpida Memory, and Nanya saw similar increases. The fact that share values are so senstive to DRAM market prices may be a sign that prices have bottomed out.

"Shares of Asian chipmakers rallied on Friday as spot prices for computer memory chips gained, fanning speculation that the market may have bottomed out."

"If inventories are decreasing, then that would support price increases. But there's still a lot of inventory out there. That means we could see a short-term rebound rather than a stable increase in prices."

"DRAM is still in oversupply. That oversupply will not be resolved until prices actually hit bottom in July or August, when makers will get a better sense of Christmas year-end demand from talks with electronics makers."