DRAM Prices Still on a Downward Trend

By Wolfgang Gruener
published

The generally expected stabilization of DRAM pricing due to the bankruptcy of Elpida is not taking place yet.

TrendForce is reporting falling prices for memory modules in August, which mirrors similar reports from other research firms. TrendForce said that a 4 GB DDR3 module stood at about $18 in the second half of August, down about 4 percent from the first half of the month. Spot market prices are a little lower and were in the $17.50 range.

The trend in September is still heading down with spot prices for 4 GB modules currently hovering in the area of $17.25, with market lows that are touching $17. 2 GB DDR3 modules have fallen below $10 and are currently trading as low as $9.75.

Untested 4 Gb DDR3 (1600 MHz) chips are currently selling for $2.57 on the spot market. 2 Gb versions (1333/1600 MHz) are at about $0.85.

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Wolfgang Gruener
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • tomfreak
    Oh yeah bring it on! Now All we need is 8GB stick to go as low as 200% the price of 4GB stick.

    then I'll pop in another 2x8GB can make my rig 24GB RAM for RAMdisk.
    Reply
  • dimar
    I wonder how this will affect the upcoming DDR4?
    Reply
  • ojas
    dimarI wonder how this will affect the upcoming DDR4?Won't affect anything. It'll be the same as DDR2->DDR3
    Reply
  • matt_b
    ojasWon't affect anything. It'll be the same as DDR2->DDR3Ditto. Like every shift in generational tech, the old gets to a point where supply is the highest it will be, prices are rock bottom, the new tech is short on supply and very high on price, old tech supply starts dwindling as the market transitions and fabs convert over, prices for the old tech creep up higher until in reaches equilibrium, prices for new tech start their descent as improvements and market share increases.

    @dimar: There's your tech cycle.

    I cannot complain though, 16 gigs of the stuff can be found for $60 quite easy now.
    Reply
  • DRosencraft
    I suppose this is why Micron is buying Elpidia. Memory makers can't seem to get out of their own way. It's fantastic right now for us consumers. But I worry that in the long term there may be too few companies for competition and will actually make DDR4 and beyond more expensive than it otherwise should be. Then again, they can't seem to find a means of stabilizing DDR3 princes, so maybe there's nothing to worry about?
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    So with DDR down to $18 for 4GB, why don't phone makers spend $10 to put 2GB in their $500+ phones? I know that not everyone needs it, but ram seems to be the thing that makes for the most future proofing of a device over CPU speed, so give us more ram so our phones last our full contract period!
    Reply
  • amk-aka-Phantom
    OMG, stuff is cheap! Where's that panic button?

    But seriously, RAM is such a basic and widely used consumable (yes, it's closer to a consumable than a real desktop component, especially in countries with climate like India where RAM breaks left and right) that it should be dirt cheap, otherwise we'll never see that future of electronics completely replacing paper. I want these digital newspapers from Deus Ex HR, I want disposable holopad notes from Mass Effect, and how the hell are we going to get any of these when all electronics manufacturers do is whine and tremble in fear when prices go down?

    Sure, there might be some sophisticated economical reason behind it that might justify it, but electronics market has been such a cheating scumbag lately (HDD supplies "will recover by 2014"? Riiight) that I won't even bother to look for one. I just want the stuff to stay cheap. I love the fact that we can provide our clients with custom-build office machines with 4-8GB of RAM so that they can multitask all they want and not hang the machine (50 tabs full of videos and other crap in Firefox - any idea how much memory it takes? :D) for $350/PC (everything included, every part is high quality w/ 3 years warranty), RAM costing only $45.
    Reply
  • samkl
    How comes smartphones dont reflect the price drop?
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    CaedenVSo with DDR down to $18 for 4GB, why don't phone makers spend $10 to put 2GB in their $500+ phones? I know that not everyone needs it, but ram seems to be the thing that makes for the most future proofing of a device over CPU speed, so give us more ram so our phones last our full contract period!
    This is DDR3, not DDR. DDR is generally not nearly this cheap given that it isn't in as heavy production as it was like a decade ago anymore. Furthermore, these 4GB single/dual module DDR3 kits take up far too much space and have far too high power consumption for phones that use maybe one or two LPDDR or LPDDR2 chips. A computer memory module generally has eight or sixteen memory chips along with other small parts.
    Reply
  • samkl
    Thanks for explaining it. I thumbed up you.
    Reply