DRAM prices hit all time low

It seems that the price of

the most fluctuated commodity-DRAM, has got stuck. This has caused

the pricing of memory modules to touch an all-time low in the spot

market and channels. Worldwide, the DRAM chip prices have reached a

low and are now cheapest ever, due to oversupply of the chip.

An upswing was seen early

this year in DRAM prices, but the reverse has started happening in

the past 3 months. Prices today have reached below the break-even

point. According to GA Mannan, country manager, Corsair, “We are

selling our 2GB DDR3 at Rs 700 (plus taxes) and 4GB at Rs 1,350,

(plus taxes). Moreover, the unbranded memory are cheaper than Rs

100-200, as compared to the branded ones.”

The current situation

is-the pricing of DDR 3 has not picked up due to slow demand from

large OEMs. Also, chances of prices dropping further by 5-8% can be

foreseen, owing to the low demand from PC makers and channels. Chip

makers are overloaded with supply, hence they have started dumping

products at the spot market, which constitutes of memory modules

makers like Corsair, Kingston, Transcend, etc.

Agreeing with Mannan,

Atul Khosla, director, Om Nanotech said, “DRAM is a falling market

and this time the fall is unprecedented because normally the market

bounces back after some gap, but for the last 3 months prices kept

falling due to a gap in the demand and supply. Therefore, we do not

see any respite in the coming days as well.”

Mannan also advised

partners not to lose the momentum. “We are asking our partners to

keep on liquidating the stock during this downtrend by mixing and

matching the old stock pricing with the new ones and sell at MOP.

Otherwise, it will be difficult for them to sustain.”

According to the

spokesperson of Hyderabad-based Dram India, a memory distributor,

“Prices have been steadily dropping. It is a great time to upgrade

or buy new memory. Spot prices for a 4GB DDR3 module have dipped to

less than Rs 2,000 from Rs 4,000 during the past 45 days.”

Ajay Kogta, country

manager, Indian Subcontinent, Strontium Technology said, “Sluggish

demand, increased factory production capacity and lower than expected

demand from PC OEM's in the DRAM market continues to drive down the

price. Most of the chip manufacturers are reporting losses as demand

is not even able to cover the cost of operations. We expect DRAM

prices to come under more pressure, but sustaining at current price

level for longer duration is not easy for most of the chip

manufacturers and it gives an opportunity for many to built up

inventory before the up cycle.”

Mumbai-based Gulbir

Bhatia, MD, Prime ABGB added, “There is nothing new in the lows

that we are seeing in the DRAM market. It is a cyclical trend that we

have seen in the past too. We feel the market sentiment will be

normal in the coming days."