Rollouts of new smartphone models will stimulate demand for mobile DRAM memory in the fourth quarter of 2015, with the chip prices falling at a slower pace, according to DRAMeXchange.
With the peak season for smartphone shipments arriving, Apple's iPhone 6s and a host of latest flagship devices from other brand vendors have been made available on the market. Around 345.9 million smartphones will be shipped in the fourth quarter of 2015, rising 3.7% sequentially and hitting the highest quarterly level for the year, DRAMeXchange predicted.
"Expanded smartphone shipments will fuel mobile DRAM demand and limit the decline of its average selling price to within 5% during the fourth quarter," said Avril Wu, assistant VP at DRAMeXchange, in a statement.
However, seasonal factors will drag down smartphone demand in the first half of 2016. Mobile DRAM prices will fall 6-8% sequentially in the first and second quarters of the year, DRAMeXchange said.
Nevertheless, compared to PC- and server-use DRAM prices, prices for mobile DRAM chips continue a relatively stable trend, DRAMeXchange noted. The world's top-3 DRAM suppliers remain focused on allocating more of their available capacities to produce mobile DRAM.
In addition, the global output of 8Gb LPDDR4 chips made will expand significantly in the second half of 2016, as SK Hynix and Micron Technology will move their respective 20/21nm process technology to mass production, DRAMeXchange indicated. The anticipated surge in the supply could put downward pressure on mobile DRAM prices.
