Hynix and Samsung cease DDR3 DRAM production
HBM2, HBM3 etc. to be rare memory used on expensive server and compute hardware in low volumes. But the boom of AI accelerators (like Nvidia’s GPUs) suddenly catapulted the technology into a highly desirable component, now accounting for large percentages of total DRAM production. This is going to be at the expense of legacy RAM – a large portion of the lines previously producing DDR3 memory have reportedly switched to HBM.
According to a report from IT Home, both Korean memory manufacturers, Samsung and Hynix, are shutting down their DDR3 memory fabs. They are expected to stop supplying DDR3 chips completely sometime in the second half of the year, i.e. within a few months. This should allow them to redirect capacity to more lucrative memory products, in particular HBM3 memory for AI accelerators.
The lines that are now producing DDR3 probably cannot be switched to the demanding HBM-type 3D stacked memory directly, many devices will have to be replaced and the line will have to be newly equipped. However, such an upgrade of a plant operation that already has a working cleanroom and infrastructure is faster and easier than building a new factory, so it makes sense for these companies to shut down production of a relatively low-return old technology and use the resources for the most profitable and in-demand product in their portfolio at the moment.
After this move, only Micron (unless it follows its Korean competitors) and its subsidiary Inotera will remain in DDR3 production, from the traditional manufacturers, that is (perhaps Nanya from Taiwan could also continue, on a smaller scale). China and its relatively new producers could ultimately save the situation in a way. These should be Xi’an UniIC and ChangXin (CXMT).
These companies are suspected of stealing competitors’ IP (Micron, for example) using and similar dirty methods to get their technology and their foothold in the DRAM manufacturing industry. However, the current situation may result in the original manufacturers leaving the market, so there would ironically be no other choice but to buy these older types of memory from the China vendors. Some modules with Chinese chips have already appeared in Czech stores, and in the case of DDR3 they were at a pretty good price competitive with second-hand market, even. But the question is whether these low prices will last, now.
DDR3 is still needed to keep older PCs going
DDR3 memory has been out of the mainstream computer market for some time – the last processors and boards using DDR3 memory were AMD’s AM3+ FX processors and APUs on the FM2+ platforms and some of Intel’s LGA 1151 platform boards for Intel’s Skylake, Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake processors (Core 6th to 9th generation). After that, DDR4 memory became the standard, and now we’re at the crossover stage where the market is transitioning from DDR4 to DDR5, but both technologies are actively being used.
So DDR3 memory is no longer needed for new computers, but if production ends sooner than would otherwise be natural and without sufficient trailing buffer, there may be a shortage of these chips for legacy users such as the embedded market. As DDR3 memory becomes more expensive, so would DDR3 modules for personal computers, which are still sold for upgrades and replacements. In the memory market, we have seen repeatedly over the past few years that the excess of demand over supply can drive prices of otherwise cheap commodity chips and modules to double or triple the previous prices.
This means that the price of this development may well be paid by those who want to frugally make use of older computers using DDR3 memory and to upgrade their RAM to an adequate capacity for today’s standards. This could obsolete processors such as the Sandy Bridge / Ivy Bridge, Haswell and Skylake generations from Intel that are otherwise still serviceable, such PCs may thus end up getting recycled before their due time, because DDR3 memory will be so expensive that any upgrade will not be worth it.
The same goes for laptops, of course, where the significant increase in price of DDR3 memory can kill the usability of many refurbished models. Those usually had small capacities like 2, 3, 4, or 6 GB of RAM in their original shipping configuration, so for current user, even if it “just for some Internet browsing”, buying larger DDR3 modules for them tends to be necessary.
Sources: IT Home, Tom’s Hardware
English translation and edit by Jozef Dudáš
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