Continuing the trend of previous reports, DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports the general price increase in the PC DRAM market is growing larger than anticipated as the already tight supply situation is compounded by quality problems with products made on the leading-edge processes. Based on a preliminary survey of completed contracts for the second quarter, DRAMeXchange estimates that the average contract price of 4GB DDR4 modules will go up by about 12.5% compared with the first quarter, from US$24 to around US$27.

"PC-OEMs that have been negotiating their second-quarter memory contracts initially expected the market supply to expand because Samsung and Micron have begun to produce on the 18 nm and the 17 nm processes, respectively," said Avril Wu, research director of DRAMeXchange. "However, both Samsung and Micron have encountered setbacks related to sampling and yield, so the supply situation remains tight going into the second quarter and PC DRAM prices will continue to rise through this three-month period."

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and gaming peripherals, is delighted to announce a new extreme speed memory kit running at DDR4-4333MHz at 16GB (8GBx2) capacity. And continuing with the pursuit of extreme memory speeds on the latest hardware, G.SKILL has reached an extreme DDR4-4500MHz speed on the Intel Z270 platform, achieving a stunning bandwidth write speed of 65GB per second in dual channel mode.

The latest addition to the Trident Z series of extreme performance memory kit is the DDR4-4333MHz CL19-19-19-39 timing in 16GB (8GBx2) at 1.40V. This is the first DDR4-4333MHz memory kit on the market in the 8GBx2 configuration for a total of 16GB. The stress test screenshot below displays the DDR4-4333MHz memory kit validated on ASUS ROG Maximus IX Apex motherboard and Intel Core i5-7600K processor.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, and mobile accessories today launched the i-Memory AI920 Jet Black Flash drive for iOS devices. Featuring Lightning and USB 3.1 in one slim 6.9mm device, the AI920 delivers 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacity and up to 150MB/s read. The Jet Black color scheme has been added in order to better complement Apple devices with an exact color match with iPhone 7, giving consumer more choice. The AI920 is also Apple MFi certified, making it an official iOS accessory.

DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, today reported that the average contract price of 4GB PC DRAM modules increased over 20% between September and October of 2016 (jumping from US$14.5 to US$17.5) as DRAM suppliers completed their fourth-quarter contract negotiations with first-tier PC-OEMs.

These increases come as the result of production capacity gradually shifting from PC-centric DRAM towards mobile and server DRAM, which have seen tremendous growths in demand. In fact, PC DRAM memory accounts for less than 20% of overall DRAM production. The already low inventories of branded device makers go hand in hand with higher-than-expected demand for DRAM-carrying products. And this higher demand comes after the PC DRAM market being severely undersupplied in the second half of 2016. The result: an across-the-board price upturn for all types of DRAM.

CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast memory, high-performance gaming hardware and PC components, today announced the immediate availability of CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB DDR4 memory. VENGEANCE RGB brings vibrant RGB lighting to the DIMM slot, with high luminosity RGB LEDs integrated into every module, all controlled by CORSAIR LINK. CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB's wire-free integration enables software RGB lighting control without additional wires (patent pending) for a sharp, clean look and providing an instant visual upgrade to any system build.

Equipped with a precision-engineered light bar and an all-new perforated CORSAIR logo, each LED generates vibrant and rich RGB lighting. With four customizable lighting modes; static, rainbow, breathing and color shift, it's simple to color match your system's build or put on a dazzling light show, and with specifically designed lighting circuitry, there's zero impact on DDR4 performance. With CORSAIR LINK, users can set up a temperature alert that automatically changes each memory module's LED color based on system temperatures, as well as monitor and control a wide variety of CORSAIR components, from case fans, lighting, DRAM and compatible CORSAIR power supplies to Hydro Series liquid CPU coolers, providing a complete PC monitoring experience.

NAND has come here to stay, and it's market penetration still has a lot of leeway. Samsung, bar none the biggest and best player in the NAND field, is in a uniquely privileged position to develop new technologies and capitalize on them. Remember that Samsung has so many distinct product lines on which to monetize its advancements that any new investment is hardly a make it or break it affair.

Z-NAND is Samsung's answer to other developing technologies such as 3D XPoint, of which Intel has just announced the first commercial product. Z-NAND looks to stand at the intersection between NAND and DRAM, and is more of an evolution of the NAND design than it is a totally new technology (thus distancing itself from the likes of 3D XPoint.)

Today, Intel unveiled the Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X Series and Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X Series with Intel Memory Drive Technology, enabling new possibilities to transform storage and memory architectures for the data center. Deployed as blazing fast storage or caching tier, Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X breaks the confines of traditional storage to significantly increase scale per server and accelerate applications. When deployed as extended memory, this drive expands the system memory pool, creating bigger, more cost-effective memory to gain higher quality insights.

An industry-leading combination of high throughput, low latency, high quality of service and high endurance enable the creation of solutions that remove data bottlenecks, unleash CPU utilization and deliver unprecedented insights. Intel Optane SSDs offer unrivaled performance at low queue depth, where the vast majority of applications generate storage workloads, which means CPUs are more active and more fully utilized. Intel Optane SSDs for the data center let users do more work with the same servers, improving TCO or expanding capabilities. And because the drive is extremely responsive under any load, it is highly predictable and delivers ultra-fast service, consistently.

AMD's Radeon branded memory business appears to be at a standstill, with no new product launches since 2015, and Radeon memory products out of stock (or nearly out of stock) at key retailers across North America.

When AMD was asked if it was planning to exit the memory business altogether, a company spokesperson replied that the memory is still being sold but is "mostly distributed in Eastern Europe, only small quantities are diverted to North America."

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers and solid-state storage devices, today announced that it has extended its popular family of SATA 6 Gb/s FerriSSD Industrial BGA SSDs to support the latest 3D NAND with end-to-end data path protection, NANDXtend ECC, and IntelligentScan feature - delivering unsurpassed data reliability for embedded storage applications. The new FerriSSD products offer flexible data capacity options up to 256GB and feature proprietary data protection technologies that eliminate drive downtime and extend the service life of these SSDs. FerriSSD products offer customized solutions for various end-market demands and are optimized to meet the specific needs of the customer.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of highperformance DRAM modules, NAND Flash products, and mobile accessories is proud to share that all DDR4 offerings from its XPG high performance hardware brand have been officially certified by AMD as compatible with the AM4 socket and accompanying processors, namely the recently-launched Ryzen range. XPG memory was validated while installed on MSI motherboards, signaling major cooperation between ADATA and MSI.

With formal AMD approval, customers know they are purchasing a fully compatible product when selecting XPG DDR4 to be used on AMD AM4-based motherboards. As XPG DDR4 has been added to the AMD QVL (qualified vendor list), customers can rely on seamless compatibility without having to worry about POST or other conflict issues.

GeIL launched its flagship EVO-X line of high-performance DDR4 memory modules featuring RGB LED lighting, which it unveiled at the 2017 International CES, earlier this year. The modules feature a diffused RGB LED lighting element that takes input from most RGB LED standards over 4-pin headers, such as ASUS Aura Sync, ASRock Aura RGB, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and GIGABYTE RGB Fusion. The modules feature two inputs, one on either side. One plugs into a 4-pin RGB LED header, and the other draws additional power from a 9V/12V power source, such as a fan header.

Internally, the LED lighting element is placed on a separate PCB from the actual DRAM module, so there's no scope for electrical interference that can destabilize the memory. The modules come in 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB densities, and in a wide range of speeds and timing combinations, including DDR4-2133, DDR4-2400, DDR4-3000, DDR4-3466, DDR4-4000, and DDR4-4133. The modules further come in single-module and dual-channel kits; and with two heatspreader color options - glossy white and matte black. The company didn't reveal pricing.

Peak season demand and surging prices for DRAM products across different applications resulted in an 18.2% sequential growth in the global DRAM revenue for the final quarter of 2016, reports DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce.

Smartphone shipments peaked in the fourth quarter on account of the traditional busy season. Chinese smartphone brands continued to post strong sales while Apple benefitted from the release of iPhone 7. "Rising demand for mobile DRAM kept squeezing the industry's production capacity for PC DRAM," said Avril Wu, research director of DRAMeXchange. "Contract prices of PC DRAM modules increased by more than 30% sequentially on average in the fourth quarter due to insufficient market supply. Server DRAM lagged behind PC and mobile DRAM in terms of price hike during the same period, but it is expected to catch up in the first quarter of this year."

After finally reaching mature yields (comparable to those of planar NAND processes), Micron's 32-layer first generation 3D NAND has grown increasingly prominent in the company's NAND output. Now, the company is looking to ramp-up production of their (currently sampling) 64-layer 3D NAND, promising "meaningful output" by the end of December 2017, looking for an 80% increase in total GB per wafer and a 30% decrease in production costs.

When it comes to the graphics subsystem memory, Micron is looking to transition their 20nm production to a "1x nm" (most likely 16nm) node, in a bid to improve cost per GB by around $20, with introduction of 16nm GDDR5 memory to be introduced later this year. However, GDDR5X volume is expected to grow significantly, in a bid to satisfy bandwidth-hungry uses through GPUs (like NVIDIA's GTX 1080 and potentially the upcoming 1080 Ti) and networking, with GDDR6 memory being introduced by the end of 2017 or early 2018. The company is still mum on actual consumer products based on their interpretation of the 3D XPoint products through their QuantX brand, though work is already under way on the second and third generation specifications of this memory, with Micron planning an hitherto unknown (in significance and product type) presence in the consumer market by the end of this year.

There will be no respite from the rising prices of DRAM chips over 2017, according to a report by Taiwan-based industry observer DigiTimes. Prices of DRAM chips directly affect DDR4 memory modules. Pei-Ing Lee, president of Nanya Technology, a DRAM maker, said that DRAM prices will continue to rally (rise) over the second quarter of 2017, but could stabilize (not necessarily fall) over the second half of the year.

The stability of DRAM prices could still depend on the capex plans of major DRAM manufacturers. The rise in DRAM prices is being attributed to tight supply. Nanya is upgrading its production lines to the new 20 nm node, with early production by the end of Q1-2017. Prices of consumer DDR4 memory modules have nearly doubled over the past six months. A typical 32 GB dual-channel DDR4 memory kit, which could be had for a little over USD $90 in Summer 2016, is now priced around $170.

At CES 2017, Plextor announced their next SSD product line. Dubbed the M8Se, these will be restricted to NVMe SSDs with 15nm 3-bit-per-cell TLC of Toshiba manufacture, ranging from 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB and 1TB capacities leveraged by Marvell's Eldora controller.

The new mid-range NVMe SSD uses a new heatsink design (slight cost-reduction when compared with the one the M8Pe carries), that Plextor says will improve cooling by up to 20% - convenient, since throttling does happen with NVMe based SSDs - and particularly with Marvell's Eldora controller - as it did with Plextor's M8Pe line of SSDs. The card also features blue accent lighting. Plextor will also sell a heatsink-less M8PeGN model in the M.2 form factor.

CORSAIR, a world leader in enthusiast memory, high-performance gaming hardware and PC components today announced its readiness for the new 7th Generation Intel Core processors and Intel 200 series motherboards, paving the way for a new generation of performance PCs. With full compatibility on CORSAIR Performance DDR4 and the award-winning range Hydro Series liquid CPU coolers and wide-reaching compatibility on quiet, efficient CORSAIR PSUs, CORSAIR is ready to help enthusiasts squeeze every ounce of performance from their next PC build.

With DDR4 performance frequencies skyrocketing beyond 4,000MHz and kit densities of up to 64GB, CORSAIR has the memory your PC needs to not just run fast, but look great. CORSAIR Dominator Platinum, Vengeance LED or Vengeance LPX DDR4 make system builds look one of a kind and are built for overclocking to push DRAM frequencies even higher. CORSAIR is the industry leader in high-speed Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) memory, and with more Intel XMP certified DDR4 kits than any other manufacturer, CORSAIR is committed to compatibility and ensuring memory runs at the speed it claims. What's more, all CORSAIR current dual-channel DDR4 kits are fully compatible with both the new 7th Generation Intel Core Processors and new Intel 200 Series Chipsets, so you can easily choose the memory that's right for your build.

SK Hynix Inc. announced it will construct a new memory semiconductor FAB in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do to meet increasing NAND Flash demand. This is a part of a mid/long-term investment plan that SK Hynix declared at M14 completion ceremony in August 2015. At that time, the Company said it could spend 46 trillion won to set up 3 new FABs in Icheon and Cheongju including the M14.

The new FAB will be located in a Cheongju Technopolis site. SK Hynix starts a design within next month then begins construction of the shell and the cleanroom in August 2017 to be completed in June 2019 with total investment of 2.2 trillion won. Equipment installation into the FAB shall be decided considering market conditions as well as the Company's migration plans.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and gaming peripherals, is thrilled to announce the Trident Z RGB Series - the world's most revolutionary RGB lighting DDR4 memory kit. Requiring no additional power connections, this incredible feat of engineering bares pure RGB lighting across an uncovered full-length light bar on the award-winning Trident Z series heatspreader design.

By default, the Trident Z RGB will display a rainbow of colors in a wave-style lighting effect, illuminating any system with a myriad of hues. Further lighting effects and color customizations can be controlled and chosen through software, scheduled for a February 2017 release.

Samsung Electronics, announced today that it is introducing the industry's first 8-gigabyte (GB) LPDDR4 (low power, double data rate 4) mobile DRAM package, which is expected to greatly improve mobile user experiences, especially for those using Ultra HD, large-screen devices. The 8GB mobile DRAM package utilizes four of the newest 16 gigabit (Gb) LPDDR4 memory chips and advanced 10-nanometer (nm)-class process technology.

"The advent of our powerful 8GB mobile DRAM solution will enable more capable next-generation, flagship mobile devices around the world," said Joo Sun Choi, executive vice president of Memory Sales and Marketing at Samsung Electronics. "We will continue to provide advanced memory solutions offering the highest values and leading-edge benefits to meet the escalating needs of devices having dual camera, 4K UHD and VR features."

Thanks to AMD's incorporation of an ARM-based "AMD Secure Processor" in their upcoming ZEN micro-architecture, the company is poised to offer something competitor Intel's microprocessors yet don't: memory encryption. This processor, and its underlying technologies, could prove to be a stepping-stone for AMD towards regaining lost server market share. Essentially, because in a market ever more steered by cloud computing considerations, it allows for the client's data to be encrypted at every moment of the work chain. Assuming all works as intended, for the first time not even cloud providers, with either hypervisor-level privileges or even physical access to the servers, will be able to carry out any malicious actions against their clients.

One only has to consider the writing on the wall: Morgan Stanley predicts that by 2018, 30% of Microsoft's revenue will stem from its cloud services; Amazon Web Services (AWS) generated $7.88B in revenue on Q4 2015, up 69% over 2014; and worldwide spending on public cloud services by itself will grow from $70B in 2015 to an estimated $141B in 2019. Cloud computing is here to stay, and with security being as important as it is for some businesses, this is an important area of investment for AMD. This "AMD Secure Processor" will work on essentially two fronts: SME (Secure Memory Encryption) and SEV (Secure Encrypted Virtualization), backed by an hardware-based SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm).

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched theXPG SX8000 SSD, which uses an M.2 form factor loaded with 3D MLC NAND Flash and an SMI 2260controller. The SX8000 meets NVMe 1.2 specifications and connects directly to motherboards via PCI Express 3.0 x4 (PCIe 3x4) to deliver 2.4GB/s read and 1GB/s write, with 100K/140K IOPS. The SX8000 arrives in diverse capacities (128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB), ensuring a new generation of SSD performance is available to more users. A slightly faster version fitted with an attractive XPG heatsink will release by the end of October, promising an aesthetic bonus for case modding enthusiasts.

The XPG SX8000 connects to desktop and notebook PCs via low profile M.2 2280 and channels data through PCI Express 3.0 x4 (four lane). The low latency and big bandwidth of PCIe enable up to 2.4GB/s read and 1GB/s write - four times the read and twice the write performance of average SATA 6Gb/s SSDs. Random 4K IOPS figures are 100K read and 140K write, also significantly more than SATA-based drives.The SX8000 features full NVMe 1.2 compatibility, powering a large performance boost that means users notice gains in real world scenarios, especially loading times within games that require heavy asset streaming and in professional applications such as graphics and audio rendering.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched XPG FlameDDR4 memory modules. Featuring a sleek heatsink emblazoned with a flame design, XPG Flame DDR4 is available in 288-pin U-DIMM and 260-pin SO-DIMM. This marks the first XPG memory for notebooks, and makes XPG Flame an appealing choice for gamers, overclocking, and competitive benchmarkers on desktops, notebooks, and small form factor (SFF) PCs. XPG Flame uses the most carefully-sorted and assembled boards and chips for assured quality and stability. Customers can choose modules in 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB densities, with speeds up to 3000 MHz on U-DIMM and 2800 MHz on SO-DIMM. All XPG Flame modules support Intel XMP 2.0 (Extreme Memory Profile) specifications and ship with a lifetime ADATA product warranty.

Following the launch of bestselling XPG Z1 DDR4 memory and lucrative XPG Dazzle LED DDR4, XPG Flame brings a highly attractive option for desktop gamers, overclockers, and tuners. With a sleek low profile heatsink, XPG Flame U-DIMM modules use a 10-layer black PCB with 2oz of copper. All of these ensure stable performance and a long module lifespan in every situation, from the most system-stressing games to competitive overclocking and benchmarking. Stock clocks range from 2400 MHz to 3000 MHz, driven by 1.2V to 1.35V. Higher speeds are quite readily possible thanks to the premium chips, circuitry, and PCB materials employed. Intel XMP 2.0 support means users have more ways to access memory overclocking, including directly from the operating system rather than via more complex BIOS settings.

Patriot, a leading manufacturer of high performance computer memory, SSDs, gaming peripherals, consumer flash storage solutions and mobile accessories, today announced the immediate release of its new extreme performance Viper 4 and high performance Viper Elite DDR4 in 3733 MHz dual kits.

Expanding Patriot's extreme performance and high performance DDR4 memory lines, the 3733 MHz Viper 4 and Viper Elite dual channel kits are designed for optimal use with the latest Intel X99 and 100 series motherboards. With consumers utilizing more taxing professional applications, large capacity PC games and having a need for higher memory optimization, the Viper 4 and Viper Elite will present unsurpassed performance and reliability that only 30 years of DRAM experience can deliver.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today announced the availability of Nonvolatile DIMM (NVDIMM) server memory to help companies protect data in the event of a system power loss. Historically, companies have used uninterruptible power supplies, solid state drives (SSDs), mechanical hard drives (HDDs) or other devices to ensure the security of critical data. While this method of preserving critical data has been effective, the backup and restore times have been very long due to the latency and write times of the SSD and HDD. Today's applications such as relational databases, scale-out storage, data analytics, and in-memory databases require much faster backup and restore times.

Crucial NVDIMM server memory combines DRAM and NAND onto a single module, providing the performance of DRAM with the persistence of NAND. In the event of a power loss, the NVDIMM will back up all DRAM data to the NAND while utilising a backup power source, known as an ultracapacitor. The DRAM on the NVDIMM ensures critical data can be operated on from a low-latency memory space without the risk of losing it. The NAND on the module ensures that the contents of the DRAM are not lost during a power failure, making the DRAM persistent. When power is restored to the system, the data in the NAND is restored on the DRAM.

As the technology of CPU and GPU keeps evolving, it is no doubt that Virtual Reality has explored itself in mainstream lately. Games and apps applied to VR devices have already grabbed gamers' attention worldwide and everyone just can't wait to jump into the bandwagon of games. However, it actually takes more than VR device to experience the alternative reality. HyperX, a division of Kingston Technology, the independent world leader in memory products, provides a total solution for gamers to upgrade the system and make sure it keeps up with the suggested requirements.

To have nice and smooth VR gaming experience, it's recommended to have at least 8GB modules within the system, and 16 GB if you need to work on 3D rendering or video editing. For gamers who want to upgrade the RAMs, the upcoming Predator DDR4 at Kingston will end the wait. The aggressive design offers greater heat dissipation to optimize reliability while the black aluminum heat spreader and black PCB complements the look of the latest PC hardware. With fast frequencies up to 3333 MHz and total capacities up to 64GB, Predator DDR4 will make sure you feel no stutter in virtual reality.