Demand for memory continued to surge in the first quarter of 2010, bucking the historic trend of a post-holiday dropoff.
According to market researcher iSuppli, the sustained demand for memory is straining the supply chain, creating a ripple effect that will likely keep PC prices on the rise throughout 2010.
Separately, the firm has found that most manufacturers have mustered the capital to complete the transition from DDR2 to DDR3 memory.
Hardware Central takes a look at the latest snapshot of the memory market.
PC prices may level off or even increase this year due to continued pricing pressure from component shortages, with memory being one of the biggest problem areas.
According to the latest scan of the chip supply chain, demand for memory is putting significant strain on supply and prices are going up — and will continue to rise — over last year’s prices.
Memory demand is so strong, finds supply chain market researcher iSuppli, that in the first three months of 2010, global DRAM sales exceeded the total for first six months of 2009 and DRAM pricing actually rose in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2009, a period when pricing normally drops by double-digit percentages.
