SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Is there a recovery in NAND flash? Not yet, but product prices are going up.
For some time, NAND flash vendors have been engulfed in a major downturn, due to lackluster demand and a glut of capacity. Vendors are spilling red ink, including even mighty Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
The overall average selling price for NAND dropped by 32 percent in the fourth quarter alone, according to the DRAMeXchange. Total sales of NAND flash for ''branded products'' were $2.227 billion, down 19.3 percent quarter-over-quarter, according to the firm.
But now, some see a recovery in the third quarter of this year. Others don't.
Suddenly, however, NAND flash prices have been on the rise for about two months, with the majority of product tags up about 5 percent over the last week, said Joseph Unsworth, an analyst with Gartner Inc. (Stamford, Conn.).
The price recovery has been led by 8-Gbit, multi-level cell (MLC) products, which have jumped by up to 22.7 percent on the spot market over the last week, according to the firm. For the seven-day period ended Feb. 13, 8-Gbit MLC has ranged from $2.70 to $3.00.
The recovery has also been led by 8-Gbit, single-level cell (SLC) products, which have jumped by up to 19.2 percent on the spot market over the last week, according to the firm. For the seven-day period ended Feb. 13, 8-Gbit MLC has ranged from $3.10 to $5.60.
''The stable pricing environment is encouraging for NAND flash vendors, all of which are in the process of migrating to finer-process geometries to reduce costs,'' Unsworth said in a report.
''The NAND industry appears to be poised for a price recovery, but it will be tenuous for three reasons: (1) a barren demand environment; (2) quick capacity additions by raising depressed utilization rates, and (3)
price increases temper end demand,'' he said.
RSS
Digital
10 emerging technologies to watch:
EE Times has compiled a list of emerging technologies that we think will be worth watching out for in 2010. Biofeedback or thought-control of electronics are among the contenders.
10 CEOs out in 2009:
It's been a tough year for the global electronics industry and CEOs. We survey the dismissal of 10 industry CEOs during the first three quarters of 2009 and what's ahead for the rest of the year.
Executive pay:
The economy stinks. Rank-and-file engineers are feeling the pain. What about technology CEOs? We crunched the numbers buried in corporate financial statements to find out. Here's what we found.
10 companies in trouble (revisited):
What follows is an updated version of 10 companies in trouble. Some companies have been removed since the last version, others remain. Still others have been added to the mix.
Early predictions for 2010:
The electronics industry is recovering, but there is still some uncertainty in the market. Some see a boom year in 2010. Some see a double dip. So what's in store for the rest of this year and 2010?
Top 10 IC vendors with cash:
The world's biggest IC companies by revenue rank not only among the best in their respective industry segments but are also more likely to have huge piles of cash that can be used to fund acquisitions, R&D and product development.
Notable women in microelectronics:
There is no better time than a global economic recession to examine the keys to successful corporate governance. So, EE Times has compiled an international list that celebrates women who are business and technology leaders in semis.
EE Times updates Silicon 60:
Seventeen companies have been added to the lastest version of our Silicon 60 list of emerging startups. Forty-three companies survived as emerging companies that are still worth watching.
RSS| 
Digital| 
Mobile
