Samsung, SK hynix to benefit from rise of DRAM prices in Q3

[THE INVESTOR] With DRAM prices hitting rock bottom, the global DRAM market has been in the doldrums over the past couple years.

According to a market report on July 7, however, the DRAM market will likely pick up steam in the July-September period thanks to increasing demand in the mobile and server markets.

“The downward trend in DRAM prices over the past two years has reversed in June,” said DRAMeXchange in its recent report, forecasting the price increase rate would be in the range of between 4 percent and 8 percent in the third quarter.

Driving the price increase will be the demand in the smartphone and server segments, according to the report.

The mobile DRAM demand is expected to increase 36 percent compared to 2015 thanks to the increasing DRAM capacity of high-end handsets. Some of high-end phones to be released this year will feature 6 gigabytes of DRAM, up from the current 4GB DRAM for high-end products.

The upbeat DRAM market is expected to give a leg up to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, the two DRAM powerhouses in the global market with their combined market share standing at 74.4 percent, compared to 18.8 percent and 6.8 percent for the US and Taiwanese companies, respectively.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)