DRAM that exceeded $4 in spot in 2 years… Expectations to benefit from Samsung and SK Hynix
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[아시아경제 정현진 기자] The world’s DRAM spot price has exceeded the 4 dollar mark in two years. As DRAM prices have soared due to the continued increase in demand from the end of last year, it is lighting the prospect that the semiconductor supercycle (super boom) will begin this year. In the semiconductor industry, such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, whose performance depends on product prices, expectations for an industry recovery are growing.
According to DRAMeXchange, a global market research firm, on the 23rd, the spot price of DRAM (based on DDR4 8Gb) used for PCs the previous day recorded an average of $4.075, up 2.13% from the previous day. As spot prices serve as a leading indicator of the memory semiconductor industry, fixed transaction prices that are directly linked to semiconductor companies’ performance are expected to rise sooner or later. The fixed price of DRAM for PC recorded an average of $3 last month and rebounded after 8 months.
It is only 22 months since April 25, 2019 (4.032 dollars) that the average spot price of PC DRAM has exceeded the 4 dollar mark. In 2019, as server investments were delayed due to the economic downturn caused by the U.S.-China trade dispute and increased uncertainty, the price of DRAM for PCs fell to the $2 level. Since then, PC DRAM prices, which recovered from the $3 level at the beginning of last year, fell to the $2 level again, and have been on a sharp rise since December of the same year due to a surge in demand. It has risen 17.8% this year alone.
The reason why DRAM prices are soaring is because demand has soared due to social changes such as the’Zipcock’ culture brought about by the Corona 19 incident. Trend Force analyzed last month, “Dram contract prices have officially entered an uptrend since January, as the inventory decline of suppliers and strong demand from customers matched.” In preparation for the peak season, the industry is also predicting that PC makers will increase rapidly as they start to stock up on DRAM.
In the case of NAND Flash, which is another memory semiconductor, an analysis suggests that the industry will recover from 2Q. Park Seong-soon, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities, said, “The price of SSDs is expected to rise due to the increased demand for solid state drives and insufficient supply of SSD controllers.” The increase in prices is also likely to be a factor in increasing concerns over an SSD supply crunch due to Samsung Electronics’ shutdown of the Austin semiconductor plant in the US.
As prices of flagship products are expected to rise, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix laughed. Both companies have an overwhelming proportion of memory semiconductors in their semiconductor sales, so higher prices are positive for their earnings. Accordingly, the previous day, the market cap of SK Hynix exceeded 100 trillion won during the intraday. Market research firm IC Insights predicts that this year’s DRAM and NAND flash-related sales will increase by 18% and 17%, respectively, to record the 1st or 2nd growth rate in the semiconductor sector this year.
Reporter Jeong Hyun-jin [email protected]