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Hynix FABs on fire after chemical explosion

World DRAM prices are set to rocket as news comes in that Hynix FABs 1 and 2 have been engulfed in a ball of flame following a huge chemical explosion.

UPDATE: We have just heard that several major memory suppliers have stopped shipments – read more here.

Reports are still coming in, but the effects are immediate – with memory prices already shooting up by 10% in the first hour after reports started.

This is one of the main factories for nVidia GDDR5 we are told, so expect a major issue for the green team with production and pricing.  That said, As nVidia begin to switch to other sources, so AMD's price for Radeon RAM will also jump up.

Hynix makes 30% of the world's memory in this area, and now it will lose half its production, so world production will drop by 15%.

All figures are approximate – we are getting news/images in from our Far East sources as we type. Without actually being at the plant, there is no way we can verify that these shots are of the Hynix fire itself, but we are seeing the same unattributed shots across a load of technology and general news sites in the region.

At the source - FABs 1 and 2 burn
At the source – FABs 1 and 2 burn
Further away smoke billows at Hynix
Further away smoke billows at Hynix
Even from afar - it's a terrible sight
Even from afar – it's a terrible sight

KitGuru says: We're thankful that no one was killed, but pricing will be crazy now that 15% of the world's production has been switched off indefinitely.

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20 comments

  1. that is similar to hard disk fabs were floated.. low prices —> tsunami –> high product prices.

  2. I think saying “Indefinitely” is a tad overzealous, what has been destroyed can always be rebuilt or replaced.

  3. @2 do you know what the word indefinitely means? As in, an indefinite amount of time. You’re correct, it can be rebuilt or replaced…in an indefinite amount of time.

  4. nothing wrong with indefinitely, might be you need to learn the definition as you seem to be inferring that its analogous with for good or forever rather than merely indeterminate

    http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Indefinitely

  5. Yes, Indefinite relates to either infinite or to undefined with the implication that it is a very large amount of time.

    Using the term indefinitely hours after the event seems to be rushing it a bit considering the chances that other manufacturers will also be rushing to fill that gap I’m certain.

  6. Fuck… and I was waiting for the reveal of Hawaii gpus…

  7. @Razz

    Except GPU prices weren’t exactly low.

  8. Wonder how it’ll affect PS4/XBone pricing….

  9. Why is it that this news article doesn’t say WHERE the fire is?

  10. AHHHH SHORTAGE! TIME TO MAKE THAT $$!!

  11. ram shortage !!!!! :((

  12. RAM shortage. All those female sheep (ewes) may be a bit unhappy! 🙂

  13. Okay, maybe I’m being pedantic, but seriously – indefinite means “undetermined” or “unknown”…not “infinite”. An indefinite amount of time is not a suggestion of “forever”.

    in·def·i·nite
    inˈdefənit/Submit
    adjective
    1. lasting for an unknown or unstated length of time.
    “they may face indefinite detention”

  14. The incident on September 4th in SK Hynix’s wuxi fab in China was NOT the chemical explosion but the fire occurred during equipment installation. Also, the first photo of this post is NOT related to this incident but it is the one that happened in Romonia, 2010(http://www.zaman.com.tr/dunya_bukreste-korkunc-yangin_988251.html).

    Please reflect these facts on your post and delete the photo. Thank you.

  15. I wonder if this incident will affect usb flash drive prices? or will it affect only DDR4, Spahire, ATi, nVidia and Intel prices? Will flash memory stick prices jump up?
    Thoughts? as they say that the factory was not that damaged as they feared, so maybe there will be no drastic jump in prices…

  16. don’t believe it. sounds like bs to raise prices on high season. even if there really was fire, i mean, they made it on purpose