NAND flash memory prices remained stable at the end of the year

In mid-to-late December, the international market MLC NAND flash memory contract price has remained stable, the mainstream 16Gb, 32Gb particle prices in the 3-3.5 US dollars and 4-5 US dollars floating between. However, people in the industry pointed out that due to the Toshiba blackout and the impact of the tablet computer market, it is expected that flash memory prices will rise significantly in the first quarter of next year.

Earlier this month, a sudden voltage drop occurred at Toshiba's Yokkaichi, Japan, plant, resulting in a complete shutdown of the production line. Toshiba already expects flash memory shipments to drop by 20% in January-February next year, leading to a significant drop in global flash memory supply and pushing up prices.

At the same time, as various brands of tablet computers will be released on the market in early next year, the demand for NAND flash memory will also rise, resulting in a significant increase in prices in the first quarter of next year. DRAMeXchange reports that smart phones and tablets will be the main demand driver for NAND flash in 2011.

However, industry insiders also stated that currently the world’s three largest flash memory suppliers, Samsung, Toshiba, and Micron, are all making capacity expansion plans. After the new capacity is put on line, unless there is a very strong demand to maintain the price level, the flash memory prices will fall in the second half of 2011.