Prices of memory chips used in personal computers and mobile devices logged another drop, according to the latest industry data Tuesday, reflecting still fragile demand for consumer electronics products.

Prices of NAND flash memory devices hit a 32-month low in the second half of last month, while prices of dynamic random access memory chips failed to make a rebound and held steady in the same period, according to DRAMeXchange Technology Inc.

The Taiwan-based company, Asia’s largest operator of a semiconductor spot market, compiles chip prices twice every month.

Its data showed that the prices of 16Gb 2Gx8 MLC NAND flash memory fell 6 percent in the second half of October from two weeks ago to $2.67, the lowest since February of 2009.

In the first half of October, the NAND flash memory chips turned 1.8 percent higher from two weeks earlier for the first time since November 2009. The brief upturn stoked hopes that its price would bottom out but the recent data suggested a sustained rebound did not take place.

Other NAND flash devices also fell around 2 percent in the second half of October from two weeks ago.

Prices of DRAM chips also extended losses, according to DRAMeXchange. The price of the DDR3 1Gb 128Mx8 1066MHz held steady at $0.50 in the second half of October from two weeks earlier.

The price of the DRAM device peaked in May 2010, hitting $2.72 but has since trended downward throughout this year as personal computer makers were unwilling to increase inventory with uncertainties in the global economy.

The prolonged downturn in the memory chip industry took a toll on local memory chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

Samsung’s mainstay semiconductor division logged a 27 percent on-year decline in its revenue in the third quarter. Its third-quarter operating profit shrank to less than half year-on-year.

Hynix, the world’s No. 2 memory chipmaker after Samsung, logged its first operating loss in nine quarters. 

(Yonhap News)