Jong-yeol Seo, Gounee Yang Global Economic News THE memory market downturn is expected to end. The industry predicted that DRAM chip prices will stop falling in the first half of this year. The industry previously predicted that the memory market will recover from the second half of this year, but it is expected that increasing demand and manufacturers’ conservative operation will push up memory prices sooner. According to market research firm Omdia, DRAM chip prices are expected to hit the lowest in the first quarter of this year and remain at a similar level in the second quarter. In the case of 8GB DDR4 for PCs, the price hit the highest of US$35.5 in the third quarter of last year and fell to US$33 in the fourth quarter. It is expected to fall to US$29 in the first quarter of this year and but maintain the price in the second quarter. In other words, it is predicted that prices will stop falling. The price of 64GB DDR4 for servers is also expected to decrease from US$304 in the third quarter of last year to US$256 in the first quarter of this year. However, Omdia predicted that there will be no further decline in the second quarter. The price of 64GB DDR4 for servers is also expected to decrease from US$304 in the third quarter of last year to US$256 in the first quarter of this year. However, Omdia predicted that there will be no further decline in the second quarter. The price of 8GB LP DDR5 for mobiles is also expected to hit the lowest of US$28 in the first quarter and remained at this level in the second quarter. It predicted that prices of DRAMs for PCs, servers, and mobile phones will all stop falling in the second quarter. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix also predicted that the memory prices will stabilize in the first half of this year. | 