DRAM shortage likely in 2nd half next year

SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Yonhap) -- The chip industry is likely to face a shortage in
dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips during the latter half of 2010,
boosting profits for DRAM manufacturers, said the operator of Asia's largest spot
market for DRAM chips on Monday.
"DRAM will likely face a shortage in the second half of 2010 triggered by the hot
sales of personal computers (PCs)," said the Taiwan-based DRAMeXchange in a
statement.
The market operator said original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of PCs are
likely to pull the inventory level of DRAM chips in the second quarter next year
to handle the shortage in the latter half of the year.
It expected the shipment of PCs in 2010 will grow up to 13 percent on-year, with
that of laptop computers and smaller netbook computers growing about 22 percent.
"The DRAM price decline will likely be eased in the second quarter next year,"
the market operator said. "DRAM vendors will have a great opportunity to remain
profitable for the whole year."
DRAMeXchange predicts that the total capital expenditure (CAPEX) for DRAM chip
makers will increase 80 percent to US$7.85 billion in 2010 from a year earlier
and will continue to the level of $10-12 billion in 2011 and 2012.
South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. alone will spend $2.6 billion on the CAPEX
for DRAM chips, making up 33 percent of the total CAPEX spent by DRAM chip makers
together, according to DRAMeXchange.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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