Analyst predicts DRAM price plunge

8/29/2011 8:45 AM EDT

LONDON – The second half of 2011 is shaping up to be a DRAM buyer's dream as the price for the memory component is set to go into free-fall, according to market research firm IHS.

The average selling price for the 2-Gbit DDR3 DRAM – a bellwether product – is projected to drop to $1.60 in the third quarter, down 24 percent from $2.10 in the second quarter. In 4Q11 the price could plummet another 22 percent to $1.25, close to cash costs for many manufacturers, said IHS. In the second quarter the market declined 5 percent from 1Q11.

Shelly

2-Gbit? You mean 2 Gigabytes?

Where can you currently get 2GB DDR3 RAM for $2.10? The cheapest I see on Newegg is about $12. I must be missing something.

Edit: OK, I think I figured it out. 2 gigabit = 0.25 gigabytes

I've never heard RAM described in Gigabits before.

So what they're saying is that 2GB stick that's currently on Newegg for $12 will soon be $10. Whoopty-friggin-doo...

Bring it on I want to upgrade to 8 GB from 4 as I'm seeing some heavy use in some things I have been doing lately (encoding video mostly).

im actually planning that upgrade lol i currently have 4 gig ad planning on adding another 4 - i have win7 ultamite 64 bit waiting to be installed

edit : also there is a cpu upgrade coming as well - going to a quad core

Does the price drop also include older DDR 2 PC 3300 e.g. ram?


ed

When new memory versions come out most production is switched to the new version. That causes older memory to become scarce and command a higher price. This helps manufacturers to recoup some of their losses. DDR4 is due out soon, and manufactures will hope to make better profits on the stockpiled DDR3 they are now having to sell below cost. It's indeed a weird business!

Shelly

Then you definitely need 4GB minimum. 8GB will give you a noticeable boost

Shelly

In the industry they refer to the individual IC chips that go on the Dimm. Each Dimm carries enough chips to add up to their size in GB. Most RAM is already selling below its manufacturing cost, and is predicted to go lower.

The reason for this is the machines memory is produced on can not be shut down without it costing million's of dollars to restart them. It's just a hazardous business to be in, feast or famine.

Shelly

I'm thinking that is the bulk price for the individual IC chips sold to RAM manufacturers. The completely assembled RAM will cost much more than that. However lower DIMM prices should equate to lower RAM prices.

MSU

If I wanted to get rid of my High Performance 12 gig of Mushkin 1600 MHz 6 7 6 24 1N Triple channel, I could get standard Mushkin 4 gig sticks and could go to 24 Gig of Memory for under 150 dollars. My Machine allows for 4 gig of Memory in each of its 6 slots. As I stated currently Have Mushkin Red-Lines 2 Gig per stick in each slot.