Prices of DRAM chips rose for the first time in six months in April, while NAND flash prices have shown an upward trend for four consecutive months.

Analysts attribute the price increases to a combination of rising demand for IT products in China, the U.S. tariff deferral, and the planned discontinuation of DDR4.

According to market research firm DRAMeXchange on Thursday, the average fixed transaction price for general-purpose PC DRAM (DDR4 8Gb 1G×8) stood at $1.65 in April, up 22.22 percent from $1.35 in the previous month.

Industry experts view this as the result of purchasing prompted by the U.S. 90-day mutual tariff deferral.

“As customer inventories were quickly depleted, demand recovery gained more momentum than expected at the beginning of last quarter,” said Kim Jae-joon, executive vice president of Samsung Electronics’ Memory Division.

He also explained that the release of Intel’s new desktop and laptop CPUs significantly boosted demand for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory.

The planned discontinuation of DDR4 by Samsung Electronics Co., SK hynix Inc., and Micron Technology Inc., have indicated plans to scale back DDR4 output, prompting buyers to accelerate orders, analysts said.

NAND flash prices also gained, with the average fixed transaction price for 128Gb 16G×8 MLC used in memory cards and universal serial bus (USBs) rising 11.06 percent on-month to $2.79 in April.

TrendForce, however, noted that “there are still concerns about the potential impact of tariffs and inflation on PC demand in the second half of the year.”

“This may lead to a downward revision in the expected increase of DRAM prices,” it said.

[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단 전재, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지]