Server DRAM Prices Will Continue to Rise as Server Demand from China Boosts in 2Q18, Says TrendForce

According to the latest data of DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, the top three Server DRAM suppliers are progressing towards the specification of 32GB RDIMM, and the 1Q18 quotes offered by Server DRAM suppliers will grow by only 4% compared with 4Q17 in order to ensure sales by favorable prices. In 2Q18, as domestic server demand from China rises, the server DRAM prices will continue to rise, says DRAMeXchange.

According to Mark Liu, senior analyst at DRAMeXchange, the annual global server shipment will keep single-digit growth this year. Particularly, the growth in Chinese market in 2Q18 will reach an outstanding 20%. On Server DRAM supply side, suppliers offer favorable contract prices in response to transition into new platform and high-density modules, dampening the price rise.

Top three DRAM suppliers will flexibly adjust their product mixes, and put 16Gb mono die into mass production in 2H18

In addition, Liu also analyzes the conditions of supply chain and points out that cloud computing and cloud storage are the focus of market in recent years. On the one hand, the server industry has benefited from the popularity of smart end-devices; on the other hand, enterprise servers are growing cloud and drive the demand for network services, becoming the key growth momentum of server market.

Due to the increasing demand for Server DRAM and data centers worldwide, the top three DRAM suppliers will increase the proportion of advanced processes in overall output in 2H18, which will improve cost structure and high-density module's adoption rate. At present, the Korean DRAM manufacturers plan to produce high-density 16Gb mono die in the third quarter, with the goal to effectively increase the penetration rate of modules with density above 64GB. In 2H18, the mainstream process of Server DRAM will gradually shift to 17nm and 18nm node. The increasing proportion of high-density chips and improvement in cost structure will accelerate the speed of transition into high-density modules.