Contract prices for 16Gb, 32Gb and 64Gb MLC NAND flash chips dropped slightly in the second half of February, while 8Gb parts went flat, according to latest data posted by DRAMeXchange. Meanwhile, the price of 32Gb 3-bit per cell MLC products was similar to the level in the first half of the month.

Late February NAND flash prices remained almost unchanged as the market enters the slow season, sources at memory makers have pointed out. Sluggish demand for flash cards and drives in the channel led to flat growth to slight decreases in the prices for the period, the sources said.

However, NAND flash contract prices will be buoyed by demand coming from the tablet PC sector later in 2011, the sources said. A series of tablet roll-outs from consumer electronics device vendors after the second quarter is expected to help fuel the market, the sources indicated.

Demand for tablets, as well as smartphones, will play a key role in driving NAND flash prices in 2011, the sources said. In 2010, smartphones were the biggest demand driver for the chip.

About more than 80 tablet PC models will be launched in 2011, the sources estimated. As each tablet integrates 32-64GB of NAND, sales of NAND for use in the device are expected to grow robustly this year, the sources said.

Average prices for 32Gb 2-bit per cell NAND edged down 0.37% to US$5.36 in the second half of February, while those for same-density 3-bit per cell ones were flat at US$4.30, DRAMeXchange data show. Prices for 64Gb 2-bit per cell chips were quoted at US$9.34 on average during the same period, down 1.68% sequentially.