Are DRAM Prices Set to Rise Further After Micron Fab Issues?

Are you looking to upgrade your system but the prices of DRAM holding you back? Well, brace yourself because the high prices will most likely continue longer and even get worse than initially expected. World demand for DRAM is at an all time high so producers are naturally scrambling to meet these expectations. However, with only three major producers and the Chinese still a few years away from completing their state-backed fabs, its only natural that price is inflated. It gets even worse.

According to market watcher TrendForce, Micron Technology Taiwan suspended operation of the Inotera Fab-2, one of their two fabrication plants in Taoyuan. A malfunctioning of the nitrogen gas dispensing system led to the contamination of around 60K wafer starts per month. Impact estimate amounts to 5.5% cut in the global DRAM production for July. Products coming from the plant include those for servers, PC and mobile DRAM so a strain this significant will leave a mark. The plant also manufacturers LPDDR4 products that goes into Apple’s supply chain for iPhone, which could result in a delay for the latest device version.

Micron Claims it is Much Ado About Nothing

Micron Technology however, dispels TrendForce’s claims in a press statement via The Register. “There was no nitrogen leaking nor evacuating of personnel”. The memory manufacturer does not deny that there was an incident. They do however, consider it minor compared to what TrendForce reports.  “There was indeed a minor facility event but operations are recovering speedily without material impact to the business”.

No matter who you believe, the prices continue to go up. The spot prices via DRAMeXchange already shows a 3.15% increase for 8Gb DDR4 (1G*8). There is also a 2.65% for 4Gb (512M*8) as of July 4, 2017 18:10 GMT+8.