Manufacturers of DRAM are making aggressive attempts to ensure that DDR3 memory will be the mainstream memory this year.
And they’ll be aided and abetted by PC manufacturers, according to a report from analyst firm DRAM Exchange.
But if the combination of vendors and DRAM manufacturers manages to switch most of the market to DDR3, DRAM Exchange warns that the second half of this year will see shortages.
DRAM Exchange believes that in the first quarter of this year DDR3 will represent 55 percent of total commodity memory and 80 percent during the second half of this year.
One of the problems is that the packaging and testing industry will not be able to keep pace with demand for DDR3. Testing equipment vendors like Verigy and Advantest already have tight supply on their equipment.
Other problems are ahead. Process technology at 40 nanometers is giving unsatisfactory yields and that will affect high end IC chips with allocation expected, DRAM Exchange believes.
