The End Of The DRAM Shortage?

[SteelCrysis]

https://www.gamersnexus.net/news-pc/3258...ting-worse

For some time now, anytime RAM pricing is suspect to decline, the PC building crowd seemingly waits for the proverbial other shoe to drop. At the jump of 2018, reports suggested a potential relief in memory pricing; however, recent reports stand to nullify any hopes of reasonable RAM prices.

In a report from Digitimes, prices are speculated to rise 5-10% in the first half of 2018, with increased demand from datacenter and smartphone segments. Additionally, Goldman Sachs reinforced the suspected DRAM price trend in a note to investors. Goldman Sachs notes that supply appears to remain constrained, and 32GB server module prices are up at $310 to $315, up from $300 back in January. Overall, this echoes the most recent DRAMeXchange forecast, which expects DRAM supply to remain tight with strong demand, as well as expecting DRAM revenue to increase by more than 30 percent in 2018, reaching $96 billion.

All the big players—that is, Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron—are planning on ramping up DRAM output for 2018 and 2019, with 2017 being a historic year for DRAM prices and growth. An infusion of new memory supply to the market could offset the high prices, to an extent—but not the high demand.

For perspective, we bought a G.SKILL Trident Z 16GB DDR4-3200MHz kit in March of 2016 for $99. That same kit now goes for $211—more than double. Additionally, we published a brief history of RAM prices between 2011 and 2018, should anyone require more examples. It’s hard to say what price will do this year; that would simply be conjecture. However, the outlook remains bleak, and it’s a tough time to be a PC builder (see also: GPU prices).