NEW YORK (AP) -- Memory chipmakers' shares rose Monday after Asian memory chipmakers said they will seek higher prices from customers after a year of depressed profit margins.
Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. and Taiwan's Nanya Technology Corp. both said they will raise prices for DRAM chips, which are compact chips used in laptops and other personal computers.
Elpida partner Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. also said it might raise its prices next month.
The news boosted U.S.-traded memory chip shares, which have plunged in the past year because of an oversupply in the market.
Micron Corp., which recently signed a production agreement with Nanya to make small-scale, technologically advanced chips, rose 51 cents or 9.3 percent to $5.97 in afternoon trading. It has traded in the last year between $5.42 and $14.20.
The promise of rising prices also helped makers of NAND flash chips, which are used in digital cameras and other portable devices.
SanDisk Corp., one of the world's largest makers of NAND chips, rose $1.40 or 6.6 percent to $22.66 in afternoon trading. Its shares have traded in the past year between $19.54 and $59.75.
STMicroelectronics N.V., which announced Monday that it has closed a deal with Intel Corp. to create a new NAND flash manufacturing company, rose 29 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $10.65. Its shares have traded in the past year between $9.88 and $20.84.
Spansion Inc., which also makes flash memory chips, rose 12 cents, or 4.6 percent, to $2.73. It has traded in the past year between $2.10 and $12.83.
The improved performance comes just hours after new figures released by the Semiconductor Industry Association showed global chip sales rose 1.5 percent in February but would have risen nearly 10 percent had it not been for the lagging performance of memory chip companies.
