Do not be surprised if the DRAM kit you've seen rises. According to IC Insights, the average selling price (ASP) of DRAM has doubled in the last 12 months and is still increasing. Looking at 2017, market research firms expect DRAM prices to jump 40 percent or more by the end of the year, which is the biggest annual increase ever (from January to December).
"One year ago, DRAM buyers took full advantage of the excess capacity (overcapacity) of the cycle and negotiated the lowest price possible with DRAM manufacturers, regardless of whether the DRAM supplier lost money in the deal.Now, with a tight capacity In the market, DRAM suppliers get 'reimbursement' and charge whatever the market will charge, regardless of whether the price increase is detrimental to the sale of the user's electronic system or causes it to lose money, "IC Insights said.
This price increase is passed to the consumer, as predicted. Take for example the Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB DDR4-2400 memory module. It sold about $ 36 a year ago on Amazon, but now it costs $ 80 (now hovering close to $ 90 recently). The same is true for this 16GB DDR4-2400 Cristial Ballistix Sport memory device - currently registered under $ 154, versus $ 73 a year ago.
Adding insult to injury, IC Insights says that the other three main DRAM suppliers are taking advantage of the recording. Micron is one of them. The company reported net income of $ 1.65 billion in sales of $ 5.57 billion, providing a 30 percent profit margin for the fiscal third quarter in 2017 (ending in May 2017). This is after losing $ 170 million in the fiscal fourth quarter in 2016 (ending in August 2016).
SK Hynix did better. In the second quarter of this year, it reported a net profit of $ 2.19 billion in sales of $ 5.94 billion, generating a profit margin of 37 percent. That's up from a $ 246 million profit in the same quarter last year. And with only some of the remaining memory chip makers, there can be no relief on the price, at least in the near future.
"Previously, when strict DRAM capacities and suppliers enjoyed record profits, one or more suppliers would eventually break the rank and start adding additional DRAM capacity to gain additional sales and market share.Then there were six, eight or a dozen DRAM Suppliers," says IC Insights.
We've offered this advice before, but the point here is if you need a memory upgrade and get a lot, maybe you should pull the trigger.