DRAM pricing has been rising quickly over the past weeks due to the combined influence of a number of factors: 

• an uptick in demand from larger than expected need in China;
• the introduction of Windows 7; 
• recent and upcoming Asian holidays;
• new forecasting methodologies at the chip manufacturing level; and
• the expansion of DDR3 production at the expense of DDR2 production.

This has resulted in higher contract prices all around and a large rise in open market pricing - especially on DDR2-800 (PC2-6400) items. For DDR2-800, contract prices have increased about 20-25% and open market pricing approximately 30% since mid-August, with most of that increase occurring since September 1.

Riding on the heels of DDR2, DDR3 prices, after softening in late August, have rebounded by about 3-5% since September 1.  Upward pressure on both DDR2 and DDR3 pricing is expected to continue in the coming weeks.