Prices of dynamic random access memory chips paused their falling trend in December on the back of seasonal demand, snapping a long losing streak, industry data showed Wednesday.

According to DRAMeXchange Technology Inc., the average price of the benchmark DDR3 2 gigabit, 256Mx8 1333 megahertz device was set at US$0.88 in the second half of last month, unchanged from two weeks ago.

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

The price of the key chips, which are used in personal computers, had suffered from sustained falls since September 2010 when the price peaked at $4.34 on weak demand for PCs. Floods in Thailand last year also undercut demand for DRAM chips.

Market watchers said a letup in falls of DRAM prices resulted from year-end demand for PCs and cautiously predicted DRAM prices may gain some ground in the first quarter.

Prices of other DRAM devices remained flat in the first half of last month, compared with two weeks earlier, data from DRAMeXchange showed.

South Korea’s total overseas shipments hit a record high of $557.8 billion last year, but suffered from slumping exports of semiconductors due to a fall in key chip prices. The country’s exports of semiconductors declined 1.1 percent on-year to $50.1 billion in 2011. 

(Yonhap News)