Big news for semis on the horizon......
hk.co.kr
Chipmakers Hint at Price Hike
By Kim Sung-jin
Staff Reporter
Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor are seeing their inventories fall sharply this month, raising the probability of an additional price rise within the year.
In particular, the inventory of double data rate DRAM chips (DDR DRAM) has hit the bottom of the barrel even though the two semiconductor firms are pumping up production. The chips are normally sold off immediately after production.
Samsung Electronics held some one week of surplus stock for synchronous DRAM chips (SDRAM) this month, two weeks or so for Rambus DRAMs and only one or two days for DDR DRAM chips.
This is a huge drop compared to the level seen in the third quarter when the chipmaker had excess inventory levels lasting two weeks for SDRAM chips, three weeks for Rambus DRAMs and 10 days for DDR DRAMs.
However, Samsung in reality has almost no inventory at its warehouses since the above volumes of DRAM chips are currently on their way to the buyer.
As for Hynix, its SDRAM inventory, which once topped two months of demand cover, plunged to two weeks, while its DDR DRAM stocks have nearly dried up.
Market watchers said that in terms of the ordinary demand cycle of the DRAM industry, the phenomenon is extremely rare. Winters are generally regarded as a low demand season, where inventory levels normally climb.
Since this has not happened this year, expectations of an all-out recovery in the semiconductor industry in the near future have risen.
``A sharp contraction in inventories at the two chipmakers isn't likely to be directly connected with the dry up of inventory across the entire DRAM market. But this can be interpreted as an encouraging sign of a recovery in the semiconductor industry,'' said Samsung.
In line with soaring demand for DRAM chips, the semiconductor industry, which raised its fixed dealing price by 10-20 percent earlier this month, is reported to be attempting an additional price hike.
``We are examining additional rises in the DRAM price, but nothing has yet been decided. We are going to come to a decision whether to raise the price or not within the year,'' said Hynix.
``Though DRAM demand is increasing, it is still slack due to the overall slump in the global information communication industry. However, triggered by the Christmas procurement boom, the semiconductor industry is expected to recover in the second quarter next year,'' said an official from the Korea Semiconductor Industry Association. |
