DDR 2 SDRAM prices are set to rise during the second half of the month, driven up by high demand and tight supply, market watcher DRAMeXchange said today.

Blame Samsung, at least in part, the organisation said, citing the chip giant's "inadequate" bit supply, which pushed 512Mb DDR 2 chip spot prices up five per cent to $4.64.

Samsung has already said it plans to shift the focus of its memory production away from SDRAM and toward NAND Flash, the memory favoured by MP3 players such as Apple's iPod Nano. It expects DRAM production to fall three per cent during the current quarter when compared to Q4 2005. By contrast, Flash product will rise 17 per cent quarter on quarter.

The situation should improve by Q2 2006, DRAMeXchange said. It noted Samsung's plan to ramp up DRAM production at 100nm and 110nm using its 20cm-wafer fabs, and to raise 90nm production, should see it "catching up" with demand in the second quarter of the year. ®