Stamford, Conn. — Spot pricing is down again for DRAMs and NAND flash devices, according to market research firm Gartner Inc. However, spot pricing for DRAMs fell slightly by 1.9 percent with a range of -3.9 percent to 3.7 percent.
Some DRAM vendors had hoped to stop the spot pricing declines and wanted to raise prices, reports Gartner, but demand in the consumer market is still weak, and idle capacity has returned. Gartner believes if DRAM vendors hope to keep the spot pricing healthy, they need to continue to limit their capacity.
Average spot pricing for DRAMs across all densities and technologies was down 0.1 percent compared with the previous week, standing at $1.29 on a 1-Gb equivalent basis.
In the NAND market, spot prices were lower across nearly all device types, led by the 8-Gb
MLC part with the steepest decline, reports Gartner. On a weighted 1-GB average, pricing dropped 8 cents to settle at $2.11 and marked the fifth week in two months that spot prices fell.
While recent spot market declines are encouraging for buyers, the price declines still represent a very small impact in comparison to the unprecedented run-up in prices since early December, according to Gartner.