<span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> and NAND Flash Products to See Price Decline in 4Q18 and 2019 due to Gap Between Supply and Demand
Trade news

DRAM and NAND Flash Products to See Price Decline in 4Q18 and 2019 due to Gap Between Supply and Demand

According to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, DRAM products have begun to see a weak price trend, showing only a 1~2% QoQ hike in contract prices for 3Q18 due to the continued oversupply, despite the coming of holiday sales season. DRAMeXchange expects the quotations of DRAM products to decline by 5% or more QoQ in 4Q18, terminating the super cycle of price growth for nine consecutive quarters. NAND Flash experienced a price drop of around 10% in 3Q18 and expects a steeper drop of 10~15% in the fourth quarter, considering the impacts of trade war. Contract prices of 3D TLC NAND Flash chips in the channel market may even drop by more than 15% in 4Q18.Average DRAM price to drop by 15~20% YoY in 2019 due to the weak price trend of server DRAMDRAMeXchange points out that the main reasons behind the falling demand for DRAM are at various levels. First, the smartphone market this year may not see remarkable shipments, since the replacement demand for smartphones has been sluggish due to the lack of differentiation among products in terms of hardware specifications. Second, the server shipments are uncertain. Third, the notebook and PC shipments may be impacted by the shortage of Intel CPUs.Considering the supply situation in 2H18, DRAM manufacturers all expect a high possibility of oversupply in 2019. Therefore, they have tried to postpone or slowdown the capital expenditure and capacity expansion. The bit output has been increasing in Q3 and Q4 this year thanks to the increased share of products on the 1X/1Y nm processes and raised yield rate of the technology. Particularly, server DRAM products show the highest increase in output, of which the 1Gb solutions are the most profitable among other applications. Therefore, the server DRAM segment would highly likely see a weak price trend in the coming quarters, lowering the ASP of DRAM as a whole.For 2019, DRAMeXchange expects the annual bit output to increase by nearly 22%, with the 1X/1Y processes going mature and the wafer starts increasing, although manufacturers have become more conservative in capacity expansion. However, the trend of DRAM prices will depend on the growth momentum in the demand side, especially server shipments and average content per box. Currently, DRAMeXchange expects the DRAM prices to drop by around 15~20% in 2019, but the price decline may be steeper if the demand for servers and smartphones weakens.NAND Flash to see 25~30% price decline in 2019 due to increased 3D NAND production capacityNAND Flash market is also influenced by the sluggish demand for consumer electronics, while demand for the more profitable Enterprise SSD from servers and data centers remains stable. However, the competition among Enterprise SSD suppliers will become increasingly fierce; hence the prices of Enterprise SSD are very likely to continue decreasing in 2019. On the supply side, NAND Flash suppliers have raised their output forecasts as they have expanded their production capacity and improved the yield rates of their 64/72-layer 3D NAND production.DRAMeXchange now anticipates continuing price decline during the traditional slow season of 1H19. Because of the seasonal headwinds, shipment forecasts for smartphones, notebooks and tablets are fairly conservative for the first half of next year, together with the following-up impacts of China-US trade war. The gap between supply and demand may be moderated if the NAND Flash manufacturers postpone their capacity expansion and transition to 96-layer 3D NAND devices. By 4Q19, the overall production capacity of NAND Flash is expected to grow by 5% YoY, of which the capacity of 3D NAND production would increase significantly by 20% YoY. Hence, for the NAND Flash manufacturers’ capital expenditure, DRAMeXchange now expects further downward revision for their spending plans for 2019.
Key word：
Release time：2018-10-10 00:00 reading：1022 Continue reading>>
<span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> Market Braces For Slower Growth
Trade news

DRAM Market Braces For Slower Growth

In its September Update to The 2018 McClean Report, IC Insights discloses that over the past two years, DRAM manufacturers have been operating their memory fabs at nearly full capacity, which has resulted in steadily increasing DRAM prices and sizable profits for suppliers along the way.  Figure 1 shows that the DRAM average selling price (ASP) reached $6.79 in August 2018, a 165% increase from two years earlier in August of 2016.  Although the DRAM ASP growth rate has slowed this year compared to last, it has remained on a solid upward trajectory through the first eight months of 2018.Figure 1The DRAM market is known for being very cyclical and after experiencing strong gains for two years, historical precedence now strongly suggests that the DRAM ASP (and market) will soon begin trending downward.  One indicator suggesting that the DRAM ASP is on the verge of decline is back-to-back years of huge increases in DRAM capital spending to expand or add new fab capacity (Figure 2). DRAM capital spending jumped 81% to $16.3 billion in 2017 and is expected to climb another 40% to $22.9 billion this year. Capex spending at these levels would normally lead to an overwhelming flood of new capacity and a subsequent rapid decline in prices.Figure 2However, what is slightly different this time around is that big productivity gains normally associated with significant spending upgrades are much less at the sub-20nm process node now being used by the top DRAM suppliers as compared to the gains seen in previous generations.At its Analyst Day event held earlier this year, Micron presented figures showing that manufacturing DRAM at the sub-20nm node requires a 35% increase in the number of mask levels, a 110% increase in the number of non-lithography steps per critical mask level, and 80% more cleanroom space per wafer out since more equipment—each piece with a larger footprint than its previous generation—is required to fabricate ≤20nm devices. Bit volume increases that previously averaged around 50% following the transition to a smaller technology node, are a fraction of that amount at the ≤20nm node.  The net result is suppliers must invest much more money for a smaller increase in bit volume output.  So, the recent uptick in capital spending, while extraordinary, may not result in a similar amount of excess capacity, as has been the case in the past.As seen in Figure 2, the DRAM ASP is forecast to rise 38% in 2018 to $6.65, but IC Insights forecasts that DRAM market growth will cool as additional capacity is brought online and supply constraints begin to ease.  (It is worth mentioning that Samsung and SK Hynix in 3Q18 reportedly deferred some of their expansion plans in light of expected softening in customer demand.)Of course, a wildcard in the DRAM market is the role and impact that the startup Chinese companies will have over the next few years.  It is estimated that China accounts for approximately 40% of the DRAM market and approximately 35% of the flash memory market.At least two Chinese IC suppliers, Innotron and JHICC, are set to participate in this year’s DRAM market.  Although China’s capacity and manufacturing processes will not initially rival those from Samsung, SK Hynix, or Micron, it will be interesting to see how well the country’s startup companies perform and whether they will exist to serve China’s national interests only or if they will expand to serve global needs.
Key word：
Release time：2018-10-08 00:00 reading：1066 Continue reading>>
<span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> Products May Experience Steeper Price Decline of 5% QoQ in 4Q18 Due to Oversupply and Weak Demand
Trade news

DRAM Products May Experience Steeper Price Decline of 5% QoQ in 4Q18 Due to Oversupply and Weak Demand

DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports that DRAM suppliers have been negotiating with their clients over the 4Q18 contracts towards the end of September. Looking ahead to the next quarter, DRAMeXchange expects that the quotations of DRAM products to decline by 5% QoQ, higher than the previous forecast of 1~3%. The weak quotations are mainly due to increasing bit supply yet fairly limited growth in demand, despite the coming of holiday sales season.“DRAM products have begun to see a weak price trend since 3Q18 after the price growth of nine consecutive quarters”, says Avril Wu, senior research director of DRAMeXchange. Particularly, PC DRAM and server DRAM showed only a 1~2% price hike QoQ in the third quarter, while mobile DRAM applications witnessed a flat price trend despite the busy season. Graphics DRAM has even started to experience a price drop during the same period. On the other hand, the spot prices have been sliding since the beginning of this year and then dropped to a level lower than contract prices at the end of June. Currently, the spot prices are 10% lower than contract prices, which is an early indicator of the possible DRAM price decline in general.Server DRAM products may see steeper price drop in the slowing DRAM marketIn the server DRAM market, orders from data center customers in North America and the transition to the new server processor platform have driven up the demand. Amid the tight supply of DRAM in 1H18, the end-clients tended to secure the supply by double booking. By 3Q18, the undersupply has been eased with significantly improved order fulfillment rates, as the DRAM suppliers continue to increase the proportion of server DRAM applications in their product mixes. Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, DRAMeXchange expects the quotations to decline by 5% QoQ, higher than the previous forecast of 2%. This is because the server demand is uncertain and spot prices of DRAM products continue to fall in the channel market. Particularly, Korean DRAM manufacturers have already lowered their target prices for 4Q18.Similar to server DRAM, the PC DRAM market also expects an oversupply and a price drop up to 5%. The price decline is larger than the previous forecast, for the shortage of Intel CPUs may lead to lower demand for notebooks and PC DRAM in a row. In terms of specialty DRAM, DRAMeXchange notes that the demand has already gone weak, together with price declines since September, because the U.S-China trade war has brought some uncertainties to the market. For 4Q18, there is a higher chance for the contract prices of specialty DRAM to decrease, even steeper than PC DRAM and server DRAM.Mobile DRAM products also expect a weak price trend in 4Q18 although the shipments of new iPhones are expected to boost the demand. However, the market tends to be conservative about the smartphone sales due to new iPhones’ high price tag. Therefore, DRAMeXchange expects high possibilities for the oversupply of DRAM. Specifically, in 4Q18, the prices of discrete solutions may decline by around 3% QoQ, while eMCP may see up to 8% QoQ price decline due to the continuous price drop of NAND Flash.
Key word：
Release time：2018-09-27 00:00 reading：1148 Continue reading>>
Stagnant PC <span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> Contract Prices in August; TrendForce Anticipates Sliding Prices for 4Q18 Contracts
Trade news

Stagnant PC DRAM Contract Prices in August; TrendForce Anticipates Sliding Prices for 4Q18 Contracts

DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports that most 3Q18 contracts in the PC DRAM market were completed in July. With contracts being mainly quarterly deals, the agreed prices for 3Q18 are generally slightly higher than those for 2Q18. Therefore, the overall trajectory of contract prices in the PC DRAM market has been relatively stable in August and is expected to remain so in September. The average contract price of mainstream 4GB PC DRAM modules has stayed at US$34.5 in August, while the average contract price of 8GB PC DRAM modules has also stayed at US$68. DRAMeXchange maintains its forecast that the average QoQ price increase for PC DRAM products in 3Q18 will be around 2%.The spot market, where developments are an early indicator of the contract price trend, shows that prices of mainstream chips have kept falling in August, and their general difference with contract prices continues to widen, says Avril Wu, senior research director of DRAMeXchange. Currently, DRAM suppliers are heading into negotiations with their clients to arrange the contracts for 4Q18. However, they will have more difficulties in maintaining their prices going forward. After examining the latest changes in bit supply and demand, DRAMeXchange anticipates sliding prices for 4Q18 contracts.In anticipation of falling ASPs during 2019, clients for now are reluctant to stock upAlthough 3Q18 is part of the traditional busy season, the demand growths of various end products are limited and not up to their usual seasonal levels. For instance, some smartphone brands and a few server manufacturers have marked down their shipment projections. Although end-product manufacturers as a whole are seeing a gradual drop in their DRAM inventories after posting shipment growths in this year’s first half, they are also noticing that the supply situation in the DRAM market is shifting from tight to loose. At the same time, most end-product manufacturers are highly uncertain about their own demand situations in 2H18 and the later period. As the DRAM supply expands, clients in the end market are actually hesitant to stock up and if the prices of DRAM products are likely to go down. If so, there is no urgency to replenish the DRAM inventory despite the seasonal influence.In the case of the server DRAM market, where demand has been fairly strong, impasse on prices is now appearing in the latest rounds of contract negotiations. This is an indication that DRAM suppliers may have to lower prices to maintain or increase sales volumes for their fourth-quarter deals. Also, there are now more discounts on high-density memory modules (high-density here is defined as 8GB or above for PC DRAM modules and 32GB or above for server DRAM modules). On the whole, suppliers are showing greater flexibility in their pricing strategies because they want to lock in the shipment volumes going into 2019 and capture more market share.
Key word：
Release time：2018-09-04 00:00 reading：1148 Continue reading>>
Micron announces $3B investment in U.S. for <span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> and NAND
Trade news

Micron announces $3B investment in U.S. for DRAM and NAND

Micron Technology, Inc., (NASDAQ:MU) today announced plans to invest $3 billion by 2030 to increase memory production at its plant in Manassas, Virginia, creating 1,100 new jobs roughly over the next decade. These investments are contemplated in Micron’s long-term model to invest capital expenditure in the low thirties as a percent of revenue. The expansion will position the Manassas site — located about 40 miles west of Washington, D.C. — to support Micron’s leadership in the rapidly growing market for high quality, high reliability memory products.“Micron’s Manassas site manufactures our long-lifecycle products that are built using our mature process technologies, and primarily sold into the automotive, networking and industrial markets,” said Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “These products support a diverse set of applications such as industrial automation, drones, the IoT (Internet of Things) and in-vehicle experience applications for automotive. This business delivers strong profitability and stable, growing free cash flow. Micron is grateful for the extensive engagement of state and local officials since early this year to help bring our Manassas expansion to fruition. We are excited to increase our commitment to the community through the creation of new highly skilled jobs, expanded facilities and education initiatives.”“Micron’s expansion in the City of Manassas represents one of the largest manufacturing investments in the history of Virginia and will position the Commonwealth as a leader in unmanned systems and Internet of Things,” said Governor Northam. “This $3 billion investment will have a tremendous impact on our economy by creating 1,100 high-demand jobs, and solidifies Micron as one of the Commonwealth’s largest exporters. We thank Micron for choosing to deepen their roots in Virginia and look forward to partnering in their next chapter of major growth.”The initial clean room expansion is expected to be completed in the fall of 2019 with production ramp in the first half of 2020. This expansion will add less than 5% to Micron’s global clean room space footprint and will primarily support enablement of DRAM and NAND technology transitions as well as modest capacity increase at the site, in-line with growing customer demand for Micron’s long-lifecycle products.“As a leading global supplier of automotive electronics systems and components, ZF appreciates the long-standing support of Micron to our business,” said Karsten Mueller, vice president, Corporate Materials Management, Global Commodity Electronics at ZF Friedrichshafen AG. “Meeting the ever-increasing demands for automotive applications will require significantly greater memory as the dual trends of advanced safety and autonomy drive the industry forward. Micron’s decision to expand the manufacturing and R&D capabilities at this IATF-certified facility is another indication that this growth should only accelerate in the future.”As part of this expansion, Micron will also establish a global research development center in Manassas for the development of memory and storage solutions focused mainly on the automotive, industrial and networking markets. The research and development center will include laboratories, test equipment and a staff of approximately 100 engineers.The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) worked with the City of Manassas and the General Assembly’s Major Employment and Investment (MEI) Project Approval Commission to secure the project for Virginia. Micron will be eligible to receive an MEI custom performance grant of $70 million for site preparation and facility costs, subject to approval by the Virginia General Assembly. Additionally, the City of Manassas and utility partners are providing a broader, comprehensive support package to enable the expansion, including substantial infrastructure upgrades and additional incentives.
Key word：
Release time：2018-08-30 00:00 reading：1239 Continue reading>>
<span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> Market Again Saw Record High Revenue in 2Q18 but Prices Are Approaching Their Peaks
Trade news

DRAM Market Again Saw Record High Revenue in 2Q18 but Prices Are Approaching Their Peaks

The global DRAM revenue grew by 11.3% QoQ (from previous quarter) to reach another record high in 2Q18, according to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. DRAM quotes rose during the period as the market remained in tight supply. Contract prices of most DRAM products advanced by just around 3% QoQ on average in 2Q18, except for contract prices of graphics DRAM products that surged by nearly 15% QoQ on the back of the cryptocurrency-related demand.With most contract negotiations completed in July, the 3Q18 contract prices of PC DRAM products for first-tier PC-OEMs have come to an average of US$34.5, showing a 1.5% hike from 2Q18 contract prices. The upswing in PC DRAM contract prices has moderated considerably for 3Q18. On the whole, DRAM prices are almost at their peaks. Looking ahead, DRAMeXchange believes that the chance for another significant hike in contract prices in 4Q18 will be slim because the top suppliers will start using their newly added production capacity in 2H18. At the same time, the demand growth will be fairly limited. Spot prices, which is an early indicator of the contract price trend, are also on a slide.Samsung still topped the revenue ranking for 2Q18 as its total DRAM revenue for the quarter went up by 8.2% QoQ to a new high of US$11.21 billion. SK Hynix’s 2Q18 revenue leapt up by 19.5% QoQ to US$7.69 billion due to a significant increase in bit shipments. SK Hynix with the large revenue growth was also able to recapture some of the previously lost market share. Samsung’s and SK Hynix’s global market shares in revenue terms came to 43.6% and 29.9%, respectively, in 2Q18. Together, the two South Korean suppliers accounted for about 73.5% of the global market.Micron stayed at the third place in the ranking with its revenue advancing by 6.3% QoQ to US$5.54 billion. Despite being the price leader among the top three suppliers, Micron’s revenue growth was the smallest because its subsidiary Micron Memory Taiwan (formerly Rexchip) experienced a production disruption in March (related to the interruption of nitrogen gas supply to the fab). This in turn caused flat growth for Micron’s 2Q18 bit shipments. Micron’s global market share also shed by 1 percentage point from the prior quarter to 21.6%.With respect to the top three suppliers’ operating margins, Samsung was unable to post noticeable growth in 2Q18 because the previous quarter was a much stronger base period for comparison. Furthermore, the anti-monopoly probe by the Chinese government is stifling Samsung’s ability to increase its profit. This is reflected in Samsung’s overall price hike, which is the smallest among the top three suppliers. Also, the supplier’s 1Y-nm technology is currently in the sampling phase and will not be ready for mass production until the middle of 3Q18. Hence, Samsung’s operating margin in 2Q18 was the same as in 1Q18 at 69%. SK Hynix and Micron, by contrast, gained significantly from their die-shrink efforts and the rising prices. The former’s operating margin grew from 61% in 1Q18 to 63% in 2Q18, while the latter saw a jump from 58% to 60% between the two quarters. All of the top three suppliers posted an operating margin surpassing 60%, which is unprecedented.Nevertheless, suppliers are reaching a limit in raising their profits. In 2H18, suppliers will begin utilizing their newly added capacity and raise the output shares for their 1X- and 1Y-nm processes. Furthermore, Samsung has become more conservative in offering quotes as the company is wary of the ramifications of price hikes. This suggests that it will be more difficult for other suppliers to raise their quotes in the near future as well. Additionally, the top three suppliers are registering an average gross margin of over 70%. For OEM clients, they are now under enormous BOM cost pressure. For suppliers, they are approaching the summit of their overall profitability.From the aspect of technology migration, Samsung will continue to increase the share of 1X-nm production in its DRAM bit output this year. Apart from that, Samsung is going to deploy the next-generation 1Y-nm technology for the newly added capacity at Line 17 and the new DRAM line at the Pyeongtaek plant. With the expansion of the DRAM capacity at the Pyeongtaek plant, the combined output share of 1X- and 1Y-nm production is projected to reach 70% by the end of 2018 and will keep expanding in 2019. SK Hynix has been working to raise the yield rate of its 1X-nm process since its deployment at the end of 2017, but the 1X-nm migration so far has been challenging for the supplier. SK Hynix’s second 12-inch wafer fab in China’s Wuxi is on track to finish construction by the end of 2018 and will start rolling out DRAM products in 1H19. Micron’s subsidiary Micron Memory Taiwan is now using the 1X-nm technology for all of its DRAM production and will directly move on to the development of 1Z-nm process in 2019. Micron Technology Taiwan (formerly Inotera) has been transitioning from the 20nm to the 1X-nm since 2Q18, and about half of its production capacity is expected to be on the 1X-nm by the end of 2018. The full conversion is forecast to finish in 1H19.With regard to Taiwan-based DRAM suppliers, Nanya registered a QoQ increase of 28.6% in its 2Q18 revenue thanks to increased bit output from its 20nm process and the price uptrend. Nanya had carried a high level of inventory for DDR3 products in 1Q18, but this problem was effectively controlled by 2Q18. Nanya’s operating margin also rose by 2.5 percentage points from the prior quarter to 46.8% due to the cost improvement resulting from the 20nm deployment. However, Nanya’s profitability will be negatively affected by the tapering of DRAM price hike and the depreciation expense associated with its capacity expansion efforts.Powerchip’s DRAM revenue fell by 13.5% QoQ in 2Q18 because the company retains a sizable portion of its fab capacity for the foundry business that it has with IC design houses (e.g. ESMT and AP Memory). As for Winbond, its 2Q18 revenue rose by 8.7% QoQ on account of allocating more of its production capacity to its 38nm process.
Key word：
Release time：2018-08-14 00:00 reading：1085 Continue reading>>
<span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> sales forecast to top $100B this year with 39% market growth
Trade news

DRAM sales forecast to top $100B this year with 39% market growth

IC Insights recently released its Mid-Year Update to The McClean Report 2018.  The update includes a revised forecast of the largest and fastest-growing IC product categories this year.  Sales and unit growth rates are shown for each of the 33 IC product categories defined by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization in the Mid-Year Update.The five largest IC product categories in terms of sales revenue and unit shipments are shown in Figure 1.  With forecast sales of $101.6 billion, (39% growth) the DRAM market is expected to be the largest of all IC product categories in 2018, repeating the ranking it held last year.  If the sales level is achieved, it would mark the first time an individual IC product category has surpassed $100.0 billion in annual sales. The DRAM market is forecast to account for 24% of IC sales in 2018.  The NAND flash market is expected to achieve the second-largest revenue level with total sales of $62.6 billion this year. Taken together, the two memory categories are forecast to account for 38% of the total $428.0 billion IC market in 2018.For many years, the standard PC/server MPU category topped the list of largest IC product segments, but with ongoing increases in memory average selling prices, the MPU category is expected to slip to the third position in 2018.  In the Mid-Year Update, IC Insights slightly raises its forecast for 2018 sales in the MPU category to show revenues increasing 5% to an all-time high of $50.8 billion, after a 6% increase in 2017 to the current record high of $48.5 billion.  Helping drive sales this year are AI-controlled systems and data-sharing applications over the Internet of Things.  Cloud computing, machine learning, and the expected tidal wave of data traffic coming from connected systems and sensors is also fueling MPU sales growth this year.Two special purpose logic categories—computer and peripherals, and wireless communications—are forecast to round out the top five largest product categories for 2018.Four of the five largest categories in terms of unit shipments are forecast to be some type of analog device.  Total analog units are expected to account for 54% of the total 318.1 billion IC shipments forecast to ship this year.  Power management analog devices are projected to account for 22% of total IC units and are forecast to exceed the combined unit shipment total of the next three categories on the list.  As the name implies, power management analog ICs help regulate power usage and to keep ICs and systems running cooler, to manage power usage, and ultimately to help extend battery life—essential qualities for an increasingly mobile and battery-powered world of devices.
Key word：
Release time：2018-08-10 00:00 reading：1161 Continue reading>>
The Global Sales Revenue of <span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> Modules for 2017 Recorded a Significant Growth of 69% Thanks to Rising ASP
Trade news

The Global Sales Revenue of DRAM Modules for 2017 Recorded a Significant Growth of 69% Thanks to Rising ASP

DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports that the global sales revenue of DRAM modules for 2017 totaled US$11.7 billion, amounting to a significant growth of 69% compared with the result of the previous year. The high revenue is due to the nearly 50% YoY growth of DRAM ASP, although the contribution of the spot market to the total DRAM revenue is getting smaller.Due to difficulties in process migration, oligopolistic market, and lack of new production capacity, DRAM products have seen a considerable price rise in 2017, with specialty DRAM recording the highest growth. Despite the decreasing contribution to total DRAM revenue, spot market appeared to be more price-sensitive, and suffered stronger price fluctuations when DRAM was in undersupply. For the whole year of 2017, the ASP in the spot market increased by over 60% and greatly contributed to the revenue of module makers.Kingston topped the 2017 sales revenue ranking; ADATA ranked 2nd thanks to its low-price DRAM inventory at a high levelA few large module makers continued to dominate the market in 2017 and were more secure in their positions. The first top five module houses in the top 10 ranking took 85% of the global revenue market share. They together with the last five module houses in the top 10 ranking accounted for 93% of the year’s total revenue.Kingston again held on to first place because the company benefitted from its increased DRAM shipments and higher prices. The company’s DRAM sales revenue grew by almost 60% YoY in 2017 to another record high. However, Kingston witnessed less growth momentum than other small- and medium-sized module makers due to its high base and its focus on DDR3 products. Kingston offers mainly DDR3, which benefits less from the rising ASP compared with mainstream DDR4 products. Despite this, Kingston still topped the 2017 sales revenue ranking.Amid undersupply of DRAM, ADATA’s annual sales revenue increased significantly by 146%, thanks to its low-price DRAM inventory at a high level. With flexible sales capabilities, ADATA managed to take second place in the year’s global ranking, surpassing Smart Modular Technologies and Ramaxel.Transcend Information continued to develop industrial DRAM modules; Team Group had made inroads into the gaming marketIn terms of Taiwan-based suppliers, Transcend Information ranked 7th in 2017 and 6th in 2016, with a more conservative sales revenue growth in the past three years. The company has been shifting from the highly volatile and risky spot market to more stable industrial products. Consequently, Transcend Information has managed to increase its profitability thanks to the stable industrial DRAM market and higher profit margin than its original business in the spot market.Apacer Technology has been always relatively conservative in procurement, thus has been less benefited from the low-price inventory. On the other hand, the company has focused on the industrial DRAM sector for many years and developed related products lines. Meanwhile, it also made inroads into markets of industrial IoT and gaming products. With a stable level of profitability, Apacer Technology has also decreased the risks brought by fluctuations in the memory industry.Team Group has demonstrated a strong ambition to differentiate from other module makers. After years of hard work, Team Group has launched a series of gaming products with very positive feedbacks. Particularly, the speed of its gaming DRAM modules has reached an industry-leading 4500Mhz. Gaming DRAM modules accounted for more than 50% of the sales revenue of Team Group. This percentage was much higher than that of general module makers, resulting in almost double DRAM sales revenue for the company in 2017.
Key word：
Release time：2018-07-31 00:00 reading：1092 Continue reading>>
Edge Computing Will Drive the Growth of Micro Server, Boosting the Demand for Server <span style='color:red'>DRAM</span>
Trade news

Edge Computing Will Drive the Growth of Micro Server, Boosting the Demand for Server DRAM

DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, estimates that x86-based solutions will continue to be the market mainstream in 2018, with a global shipment share of 97%. Intel and AMD will continue to lead the development of server. Particularly, in the sector of Internet Datacenter, solutions based on the x86 architecture will still dominate the market due to its wide product range.According to Mark Liu, senior analyst at DRAMeXchange, enterprise servers contribute to around 60% of the global server shipments, while hyperscale server applications account for around 30%. The demand for micro servers used in edge computing is projected to see significant growth in the next 3 to 5 years due to the construction of data center and the implementation of 5G after 2020. This trend is also expected to drive the demand for related components and DRAM products considerably.The average content per box continues to see 20% annual growth in 2019 as Intel and AMD promote new platformsCurrently, x86-based solutions are still the market mainstream, while the penetration rate of Intel’s Purley platform has reached about 50%. Meanwhile, AMD has been migrating to products based on 14nm process. Previous product lines will be phased out as the wafer starts of 14nm process gradually increase. As for ARMv8 and RISC architecture, products are built to order at this stage with small production volume, mainly for the data center market. These two architectures are not able to compete with x86 servers until 2020, but may be adopted in more applications after that as the penetration rate of micro servers increases.In terms of the product roadmap, Intel's Cascade Lake will still be based on the third-generation 14nm process, but would not become the mainstream until the second half of 2019. AMD's new solution will migrate to the 7nm process, with its EPYC Series becoming the main product line this year. The AMD Rome platform server processor will also have a chance to come onto the market in the second half of next year.DRAMeXchange notes that, the penetration of new platforms may drive the average content per box. The average density of DRAM in servers will continue to see 20% annual growth in 2019.
Key word：
Release time：2018-07-26 00:00 reading：1063 Continue reading>>
Global <span style='color:red'>DRAM</span> Revenue Expects New High in 3Q18 as Peak Season Brings Marginal ASP Rise
Trade news

Global DRAM Revenue Expects New High in 3Q18 as Peak Season Brings Marginal ASP Rise

Since the end of 2Q18, major DRAM suppliers have been negotiating over the contract prices for Q3. Despite the fact that the bit output has been increasing quarter by quarter, the average selling prices of DRAM may still see a marginal rise in 3Q18 since the buyers are eager to stock up for the upcoming traditional peak season, says DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce.“As suppliers migrate to 1X or 1Y nm process one after another, the DRAM bit output increased by 3.2% in 2Q18 QoQ although some issues remain regarding the yield rate and product quality”, says Avril Wu, senior research director of DRAMeXchange. On the demand front, the market will witness steady stock up demand as the safety stock levels have not been reached, resulting in the marginal rise in DRAM ASP QoQ.Going forward to Q3 of the year, the share of 1X or 1Y nm process will continue to increase, and DRAMeXchange estimates the bit output growth at 4.8% in 3Q18. Driven by the peak season, DRAM ASP will see a marginal rise, resulting in a new high of global DRAM revenue in 3Q18.Mainstream demand comes from high-end smartphones and data centers; graphics DRAM products to see slashed demandFrom the perspective of applications, the DRAM price rise in Q3 is attributed to demand for server DRAM and mobile DRAM. DRAMeXchange points out that the demand for server DRAM will see steady growth in Q3, so the prices of mainstream server modules to be shipped to the first-tier firms may advance by 1-2% in Q3. Meanwhile, the price rise will be limited thanks to increased shipment fulfillment rates since Q1. Consequently, the quotes offered by first-tier and second-tier firms for Q3 contract prices will not be much different.As for mobile DRAM, increasing adoption of high-density LPDDR4 in high-end Android smartphones has contributed to the ASP rise. The DRAM capacity of newly released smartphones has been improved to 6GB or even 8GB, leading to the tighter supply of both discrete LPDDR4 products and eMCP LPDDR4 products. In this situation, DRAMeXchange expects that the prices of mobile DRAM may increase by 1-2% in 3Q18.On the other hand, previous growth momentum for graphics DRAM and consumer DRAM products may disappear completely due to declined demand for cryptocurrency mining. Particularly, after significant price rise in 1H18, graphics DRAM may see price decline in the second half.DRAM prices may continue to grow in 2H18, yet the growth will be moderatedOverall speaking, the bit output growth brought by migration to 10 nm process is not as much as that in previous generations of technology process migration. However, as the suppliers adopt the new process successively, the bit output will still see continuous growth in the next few quarters. For the rest of year, DRAMeXchange notes that the price growth has been increasingly marginal despite the stable demand in the peak season. Consequently, DRAMeXchange expects that the price growth may be even flat in 4Q18.
Key word：
Release time：2018-07-03 00:00 reading：1068 Continue reading>>

Turn to

/ 5

Popular categories
Semiconductors Circuit Protection Electromechanical Embedded Solutions Connectors, Interconnects Sensors, Transducers Optoelectronics Development Kits Test and Measurement Power Fans, Thermal Management Boxes, Enclosures, Racks Cables, Wires Passive Components Others
  • Week of hot material
  • Material in short supply seckilling
model brand Quote
MC33074DR2G onsemi
RB751G-40T2R ROHM Semiconductor
BD71847AMWV-E2 ROHM Semiconductor
TL431ACLPR Texas Instruments
CDZVT2R20B ROHM Semiconductor
model brand To snap up
BP3621 ROHM Semiconductor
BU33JA2MNVX-CTL ROHM Semiconductor
IPZ40N04S5L4R8ATMA1 Infineon Technologies
TPS63050YFFR Texas Instruments
STM32F429IGT6 STMicroelectronics
ESR03EZPJ151 ROHM Semiconductor
Hot labels
ROHM
IC
Averlogic
Intel
Samsung
IoT
AI
Sensor
Chip
Original authorized brand
More Licensed Brands>>
Information leaderboard
  • Week of ranking
  • Month ranking

About us

Qr code of ameya360 official account

Identify TWO-DIMENSIONAL code, you can pay attention to

AMEYA360 mall (www.ameya360.com) was launched in 2011. Now there are more than 3,500 high-quality suppliers, including 6 million product model data, and more than 1 million component stocks for purchase. Products cover MCU+ memory + power chip +IGBT+MOS tube + op amp + RF Bluetooth + sensor + resistor capacitance inductor + connector and other fields. main business of platform covers spot sales of electronic components, BOM distribution and product supporting materials, providing one-stop purchasing and sales services for our customers.

Please enter the verification code in the image below：

verification code