2H Oct. mainstream MLC NAND Flash average contract price rose 4~7 percent

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: The 2HOct. mainstream MLC NAND Flash average contract price rose about 4~7 percent. According to DRAMeXchange, the “High” price remains flat while “Low” price rose 7~10 percent compared to the price in 1HOct since some vendors adjusted up the price continuously in past two weeks to reflect the tight supply.

Some vendors sharply increase the contract price to eliminate the pricing gap with other vendors. However, some suppliers unchanged the contract price as they have already increased the contract price to the higher market price level in advance.

Fig. 1: 16Gb MLC NAND Flash contract priceSource: DRAMeXchange

Since most NAND Flash vendors regarded the hot season orders from MP3/PMP makers and portable device makers as the top priority in October that shipment to memory card and UFD vendors are comparably insufficient. That is, 2HOct. NAND Flash contract price can still increase with pretty strong momentum due to the tight supply.

According to DRAMeXchange, after the China early October holidays, the inventory replenishment movement for Thanksgiving and Christmas will continue for those electronic system, memory card and UFD vendors in coming one month.

DRAMeXchange expects that the NAND Flash market will be still under tighter supply before mid-November. Despite of expected slowing inventory replenishment momentum after November, recently the Win7 launch and iPhone launch in China market will help bring some positive effects to NAND Flash demand and will likely retain its bullish atmosphere. Therefore, the NAND Flash price will likely remain stable in the short term.

Fig. 2: 32Gb MLC NAND Flash contract priceSource: DRAMeXchange