NAND flash pricing dropping due to oversupply

DigiTimes reports NAND flash memory pricing continued to decline in early April, due to low demand visibility and overproduction caused by faster-than-expected production ramp-ups at NAND suppliers. Pricing of NAND flash memory is expected to increase in the second half of the year, when demand for embedded storage in devices like smartphones, tablets, and SSDs will likely boom.

NAND flash prices have been decreasing since 2012 due to sluggish end-market demand, the sources indicated. Suppliers' faster-than-expected production ramp-ups are the other factor causing prices to edge down, the sources said.

Major chip producers have moved to build products using their newer 2Xnm and 19nm process technologies, which boost their output. Demand, however, has failed to catch up with supply.

With chip prices slipping below costs, suppliers are now looking for strategies to maintain price stability, such as to reduce price competition, the sources pointed out.