NAND flash prices plummet by 63 percent

Bad news: Amid sudden and falling demand in the MP3 player market and other factors, spot prices for NAND-based flash memories have tumbled and fallen by up to 63 percent since the beginning of this year, according to the DRAMeXchange.

Good news: The dramatic price drop has spurred product demand in select other consumer electronic segments, according to the memory clearing house.

Bad news: “Moving ahead to 2Q, DRAMeXchange is still doubtful about any price rebound under the current technology advancement trend,” according to the firm. “Unless any killer application appears and digests rapidly growing NAND capacity, prices should be under the shadows.”

DRAMeXchange indicated that 2- and 4-Gbit NAND parts have fallen by an average of 63 percent since the beginning of the year, while other densities have also plummet by a minimum of 43 percent.

For the week of March 21-27, NAND prices fell by an average of 3-to-5 percent.

Sales of NAND flash memory grew 64 percent to reach $10.6 billion in 2005, while the market for NOR flash declined 13 percent to finish the year at $8 billion, according to a report released Tuesday (March 28) by market analyst firm IC Insights.

Still, the signs are bad for NAND. In a major turn of events, iSuppli Corp. has cut its forecast for the NAND-based flash memory market in 2006, but raised its outlook for DRAMs.