Wednesday, February 3rd 2021
DigiTimes: DDR3 Prices to Soar 40-50% in 2021
Yes, you are reading that title correctly. Today we got ahold of information that DDR3 prices are going to skyrocket by as much as 40-50% this year! Despite DDR4 being present for seven years (since 2014), which is a lot in the world of tech, DDR3 is still thriving. Used in a wide range of devices like IoT, older servers, and long time running machines that need maintenance for decades. The DDR3 has been manufactured by SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron, however, as technology moved on, these companies began the migration to the newer DDR4 standard. Even DDR5 exists today and it is currently manufactured.
So why is DDR3 soaring in value? It is because of the increased scarcity of this memory. SK Hynix has stopped the production of 2 Gb modules, leaving only the 4 Gb modules in production. Samsung has cut down the capacity from 60,000 wafers of DDR3 memory modules per month to just 20,000. This has caused the price of 2 Gb and 4 Gb modules to rise already as much as 30%. Despite the age of 14 years, DDR3 is still widely used in many systems. And because of that, the scarcity is making the price of the current memory increase. The price is expected to rise through the whole year and it could reach a 50% increase.
Source:
DigiTimes
So why is DDR3 soaring in value? It is because of the increased scarcity of this memory. SK Hynix has stopped the production of 2 Gb modules, leaving only the 4 Gb modules in production. Samsung has cut down the capacity from 60,000 wafers of DDR3 memory modules per month to just 20,000. This has caused the price of 2 Gb and 4 Gb modules to rise already as much as 30%. Despite the age of 14 years, DDR3 is still widely used in many systems. And because of that, the scarcity is making the price of the current memory increase. The price is expected to rise through the whole year and it could reach a 50% increase.
22 Comments on DigiTimes: DDR3 Prices to Soar 40-50% in 2021
Ten years old Intel Core i7 2600K (as well as all CPUs up to i7 4790K) is still acceptable processor and pre-owned one is a good solution for value systems.
Compared to this, ten years old Pentium 4 1,5 GHz was e-waste in 2011.
What's really sad, is that new RAM prices always affect used RAM prices. Got a little stockpile of DDR3/DDR3L just in case, but with these news I'll have to get more before the next hike.
Maxing-out a 2004 laptop cost me as much as €6, last year. :laugh:
What's the failure rate of several years old DDR3 modules in PCs and servers? If it's around 1% per year then there must be quite a large demand just for replacement modules.
Next : Prices of DDR4 RAM Increased ....
Reason: Because DDR3 prices also increased so we are forced to increase DDR4 prices as well..
(also throw in keywords like Global Pandamic, Trade war, Shortages..etc to increase prices )
If we had Zen back when the 2600k was released, you can bet your behind that by now that 2600k would be as useless as the pentium 4 you mentioned.
One thing I noticed is DDR3 systems are able to boot up really fast, presumably since they aren't bogged down by DDR4 memory training.
Probably should think about selling after the prices go crazy again. :roll: