DRAM memory prices are at an all-time low, with slumps of more than twenty percent in the first quarter of 2023. The coming quarter will not see a turnaround.

Analysts predicted back in late 2022 that DRAM memory prices would hit an all-time low this year, and that prediction has come true. The analysis agency TrendForce measures the damage after the first quarter of 2023. The prices of different types of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) experienced a sharp decline in recent months; in some categories it is twenty percent or more.

Starting with PC DRAM. You now pay up to twenty percent less for DDR4 memory, and it can even be 23 percent less for DDR5. Server DRAM prices have even dropped by as much as 28 percent for DDR5 memory. On the other hand, server memory will be the top-selling type in 2023, the same TrendForce predicts.

If we complete the list, memory prices for mobile devices have fallen by up to eighteen percent, graphics memory by up to 23 percent, and consumers are also paying eighteen to 23 percent less for DRAM memory cards. Mobile DRAM in particular is experiencing overproduction. The price drops are related to falling demand; a trend that is plaguing the entire PC industry.

Low point not yet reached

According to TrendMicro, this falling demand will not stabilize immediately, as far as further price reductions for the different types of DRAM memory are concerned. The analysts assume that the prices will fall by another ten to fifteen percent in the second quarter. Manufacturers have overstocks, sometimes more than ten weeks, which they now want to get rid of as quickly as possible.

The production of new memory cards will therefore be temporarily reduced. This should eventually bring the tension between supply and demand back to a more stable price point.