China investigates 'spurious' deal between makers of dram memories

The Price Monitoring Department of the China National Development and Reform Commission is studying a possible agreement between manufacturers Samsung, Hynix, Micron and Toshiba to keep stocks of NAND DRAM memories low, according to the China Daily .

Samsung, Hynix, Micron and Toshiba would be involved

The price of NAND memories has seen a 32% increase this year, with DRAM price rises beginning in the second half of 2016. Suppliers continue to declare lack of supply as the big problem. Currently, there are only four major providers of such memory: Samsung, Hynix, Micron, and Toshiba. So, for the Chinese NDRC, it is worth investigating a possible agreement between them to keep stocks low and thus increase the price of memory modules.

This would not be the first time that we see a 'hidden' pricing between manufacturers, Samsung already has experience in this method, as it once did with its LCD screens and where five other manufacturers were involved.

The price of NAND DRAM memories has experienced a 32% increase this year

The high costs of NAND memory inflate the prices of SSD storage units, while the memory in video cards and DDR4 modules also increases. It is not just consumers of PC hardware that are affected by the high cost of NAND. Smartphone manufacturers also bring up the problem as it increases production costs.

Manufacturers say that in 2018 there should be a decrease in these costs, while the factories that are in charge of developing them are expanded. For now, they are just wishes. We will keep you informed.

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