Elpida made comments this week about raising prices on key DDR3 products due to tightening supply. While it would certainly be nice for DRAM companies if they could simply raise prices when they felt it was appropriate, the market tends to view things differently. Market checks indicate that supply remains sufficient while demand is entering the typically weak season of March and April. It therefore seems unlikely that a real undersupply situation exists across the entire DRAM market (although there are certainly corners of the market that are tighter than others). iSuppli still believes that the industry should see ample suppy for the first half of 2011 in light of the rapid technology transitions occurring at Micron, Samsung, Hynix, and Elpida. While the supply/demand balance will favor DRAM buyers in the first half of 2011, the balance is forecasted to shift in favor of DRAM sellers in the second half of the year - when it should be easier for Elpida to demand higher prices.
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