[News] Market Fears Confirmed? South Korea’s NAND Flash Exports Plunged 13.1% in 4Q24

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Amid market concerns that major memory firms have been gradually scaling down their legacy NAND production, the reports from Business Korea and Sedaily, citing Korea Customs Service data, validate the worries. In the fourth quarter of 2024, South Korea’s NAND flash exports dropped 13.1% year-over-year, totaling USD 1.53 billion (2.24 trillion won).

Notably, while South Korea’s NAND exports surged 71% to USD 2.56 billion in the first quarter of 2024, they began to fall in the second quarter, and remained sluggish through the rest of the year, as highlighted by the reports.

The reports note that the price of 128-gigabit generic NAND flash plummeted from USD 4.72 in January, 2024, to USD 2.08 in December, which could be attributed to fierce competition from other global memory companies like Japan’s Kioxia, Micron, Western Digital, and China’s YMTC, the reports indicate.

Memory Giants Reportedly Announce Production Cuts

Aligning with the downward trend of the market condition, The Elec suggests that SK hynix plans to cut its NAND production by 10% in the first half of 2025. Another report from South Korean media outlet fnnews notes that as the momentum for enterprise SSDs also shows signs of weakening, Micron has already started reducing NAND wafer input volumes.

On the other hand, Samsung is also taking action. According to Chosun Biz, Samsung has reportedly decided to cut NAND flash production at its Xi’an plant in China, its largest manufacturing base for the memory chips, by more than 10%. Additionally, production at lines 12 and 17 in Hwaseong will reportedly be adjusted downward as well.

Deteriorating Demand for Orders in 1Q25

According to TrendForce, NAND Flash suppliers are expected to face mounting inventory levels and deteriorating demand for orders in 1Q25, with average contract prices forecast to decline by 10-15% quarter-over-quarter.

TrendForce also observes that weak sales of consumer electronics and a slowdown in corporate IT investments have led to a significant contraction in demand. This, coupled with excess supply, has driven prices to continue their downward trend.

As of the third quarter of 2024, Samsung remained its top position in revenue ranking, as it captured a 35.2% market share in NAND Flash, followed by SK group (20.6%), Kioxia (15.1%) and Micron (14.2%).

Read more

• [News] Samsung Reportedly to Cut NAND Production at Xi’an Plant by Over 10%
• [News] Samsung, SK hynix and Micron Reportedly Cut NAND Production amid Slowing Demand

(Photo credit: SK hynix)