TrendForce report DRAM and NAND Flash prices have seen further price cuts this quarter, despite significant price cuts and production cutbacks already taking place within the industry today. Overall, the industry expects another 18% discount from his Q2 2023, making DDR4 even cheaper for PC users. However, storage discounts apply only to the mobile and server markets and not necessarily to the best SSDs in the consumer space.
Prices are dropping again as demand for these components continues to decline across the PC, server, and mobile space. His PC industry, in particular, has suffered greatly from an insufficient supply of DDR4 that is not being sold in large numbers. Meanwhile, the server market has been plagued by weaker overall server demand, further fueling DDR4 oversupply and forcing suppliers to further cut prices.
However, the market share of DDR5 remains low, so the impact on DDR5 pricing is expected to be very small. DDR5 is still relatively new and will take time to completely replace DDR4 as a mainstream item. The same is true for server DDR5, but it is complicated by PMIC compatibility issues that drive down the price of DDR5 servers.
For mobile DRAM (that is, the memory of smartphones, tablets, handhelds, etc.) the story is a little different. Smartphone brands have actually fixed their memory inventory, getting rid of all the excess DRAM inventory they once had. But despite this, inventory pressure on suppliers remains high as buyers consolidate Q3 demand with Q2 to increase their bargaining power.
Overall, the average price of DRAM memory in the PC and server markets is expected to decline by 15-20% in Q2 2023, while the mobile DRAM market is expected to decline by 13-18%.
For servers and mobile storage, the same issues that affect both markets are also affecting SSDs. The combination of declining server demand and declining server ODM orders has resulted in high enterprise SSD inventory levels. This has resulted in a 10-15% price drop. Mobile UFS storage discounts are also expected to grow by 10-15%. This is because buyers consolidate Q3 demand with Q2 demand to increase their bargaining power and bring high inventory pressure to suppliers.
