Prices of DRAM have shot up 20% as Toshiba recovers from a power blackout that temporarily halted production and Japan has put in place export curbs that restrict high-technology exports to South Korea. These two things combined could impact prices of PC memory modules, or consumer electronics that make use of DRAM like smartphones. In the coming weeks as inventories dry up expect prices to be marked up at various stages of the supply-chain.
DRAMeXchange reported that spot-pricing of 8-gigabit DDR4 DRAM chips (which is used to benchmark DRAM pricing as a whole), closed at $3.74 at the end of trading on Friday (7/19). That is up 14.6 percent week-over-week, and 23 percent up from pricing on July 5th. An industry observer said that recent hikes are not directly influenced by the trade-spat between Japan and Korea, but rather a power blackout experienced by Toshiba DRAM manufacturing facility last month. The same person said that if the trade-spat does affect production at Samsung Electronics or SK Hynix, DRAM prices could “skyrocket.”
Via KBS World Radio
