Memory-chip prices are no longer “at a bottom,” Kwon Oh Hyun, the newly appointed head of Samsung’s semiconductor division, said Monday at a conference in Taipei. Still, the industry outlook for the second half remains unclear, he said.

Kwon’s comment backs Deutsche Bank AG’s forecast that the industry has bottomed and will recover through 2009 because of “significant” slowdown in supply growth. Prices of the chips known as dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, have rebounded in the past two months after a glut drove major producers including Samsung to post losses for the product last quarter.

“The bottom for the memory-chip industry has passed but uncertainties in the global economy make it hard to expect a sharp increase in prices,” Kwon told reporters.

Global DRAM supply will probably increase 60 percent this year, slowing from 82 percent growth in 2007, Bae Seung Chul, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, wrote in a report last week. DRAM chips speed up computer applications by temporarily storing frequently used data.

Samsung plans to maintain its capital investment plan for semiconductors this year, Kwon said. The Suwon, South Korea-based company has said it plans to spend 7 trillion won (US$6.7 billion) on the memory-chip business in 2008.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest producer of computer memory, last month said it will reduce capital investment for this year by 28 percent to 2.6 trillion won.

The company joins Qimonda AG and Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp. in reducing spending for production increases, helping prices recover. The price of the benchmark DRAM chip has gained 12 percent this quarter after remaining at near record lows since sliding 85 percent last year, according to Taiwan-based Dramexchange Technology Inc., Asia’s biggest spot market for semiconductors.

Separately, Samsung said Monday it developed a faster NAND flash memory-based storage device that may replace hard-disk drives in notebook computers. The so-called solid-state drive is 2.4 times faster than traditional hard drives, the company said.

“The potential for SSDs is great even though the market is not that big right now,” Kwon said. “We plan to maintain our lead in the SSD market and we’re confident that we can do so.” Solid-state drive prices are difficult to predict at present, Kwon said. Price declines will accelerate if there is a significant increase in demand, he said.

Sales of solid-state drives will more than double each year until 2012, when they are projected to reach US$8.7 billion, Samsung said, citing researcher iSuppli Corp.

Samsung also plans to expand its non-memory business by boosting revenue from the division by 20 percent each year, said Kwon, who previously headed the system LSI division that includes chips used in digital televisions.

Revenue from the system LSI division was about US$4 billion in 2007, or about 4 percent of Samsung’s sales, including those of overseas affiliates, according to Kwon.

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