Spot market prices for server DRAM memory have shown a sudden rise amid speculation over a batch of SK Hynix-produced defective wafers, according to industry sources.
Some reports have claimed SK Hynix produced as many as 240,000 defective wafers for server DRAM memory, which could incur KRW2 trillion (US$1.7 billion) in losses, but the company has responded by saying the reports were exaggerating the scale of defective production, which it said was within normal levels.
SK Hynix said that it is still in talks with a few of its customers affected by the defective products, trying to work out solutions, and that the it is still too early to estimate the losses, which it said should not be too much.
The batch of SK Hynix' defective DRAMs that was meant to be shipped to server vendors was built using the chip vendor's 1xnm process technology, according to sources familiar with the matter.
It remains to be seen whether some of the chips from that batch would be still good enough to end up being used in consumer electronics or in the spot market, which could constrain spot market price growth, the sources said.
