USA: According to Converge Market Insights, since Elpida announced at the beginning of April that it would attempt to sustain contract price increases, the memory market has responded. As mentioned in Converge's April edition of Market Insights, in order for the market to rise, all DRAM manufacturers need to be on the same page — and so far, this strategy appears to be working.

For the first time in more than a year, the spot market has experienced steady open market buying from box builders. Most of the sourcing has been for 1GB 667 ($19.50) and 1GB 800 ($20.50) desktop and 2GB 667 ($42–$43) notebook modules.

Converge believes DRAM manufacturers are purposely shutting off their supply to the box builders to force them into the spot market. It is a strategy to justify raising the contract price. As we head into the end of May, we anticipate that the market will stabilize and maybe even drop a little as the United States heads into the holiday weekend (Memorial Day) and the unofficial start of summer.

Converge believes the market will remain stable at these current price levels, +/- $1 for the next few weeks before starting another round of gradual increases as we head into what is generally the start of the stronger build season.