NAND flash contract prices are expected to rally between September and October thanks to growing demand ahead of new phone and tablet launches as well as back-to-school demand, according to sources at memory module firms.

　　New smartphones and tablets are set to hit market shelves later in the third quarter of 2013, while back-to-school demand from European clients is expected to emerge, said the sources.

　　Prices for NAND flash chips, which are widely used in mobile devices such as smartphones and mobile phones, have trended lower since July as a result of double-booking by downstream companies who had feared a shortage, the sources indicated.

　　There was optimism surrounding the NAND flash market previously that demand for the memory would outpace supply in the third quarter of 2013, due to strong sales of smartphones and tablets. However, actual demand thus far in the quarter has been weaker than expected while sales of high-end smartphones have been disappointing.

　　Supply and demand in the market has just come into balance in the third quarter, the sources observed. Nonetheless, the market outlook for the rest of 2013 remains brisk.

　　New capacity will be limited while demand is expected to pick up driven by the upcoming rollouts of new tablets and smartphones, according to Adata Technology. Adata also expressed optimism about the NAND flash market outlook for the rest of the year.

　　Phison Electronics believes that NAND flash contract prices will start to rise in September, and continue their rally through the end of October. Phison also commented that prices will be more stable as chipmakers focus on profits and are unlikely to initiate price cuts.