SK Hynix has been exploring the potential of manufacturing 3D NAND at ultra-low temperatures, which may enable the South Korean memory giant to produce its new-generation product with over 400 layers, South Korea’s media outlet TheElec revealed.

According to the report, instead of testing in its own wafer fabs, SK Hynix has sent test wafers to Tokyo Electron (TEL) to test the performance of the latter’s latest cryogenic etching tool. Unlike existing ones, which usually operate at 0~30°C, the Japanese fab equipment maker’s new etching equipment is capable of performing high-speed etching at -70°C.

According to a press release by TEL, its latest memory channel hole etch technology enables a 10-µm-deep etch with a high aspect ratio in just 33 minutes. It can also reduce the global warming potential by 84% compared with previous technologies.

Industry sources cited by the report indicated that SK Hynix plans to utilize a triple-stack structure for 321-layer NAND. However, when it comes to etching in deep channel holes, achieving uniformity is a major challenge. As a result, companies usually adopt double or even triple-stack structures for 3D NAND manufacturing due to the considerable difficulty in etching vertical holes.

With the help of TEL’s new etching equipment, it may be possible in the future to manufacture 3D NAND with over 400 layers, even in structures with fewer stacked layers, allowing memory manufacturers to reduce costs thanks to simplified processes. SK Hynix aims to produce 3D NAND products with over 400 layers, and depending on their performance, these NAND chips may adopt single or double-stack structures.

(Photo credit: SK hynix)

SK hynix announced today that it recorded 12.43 trillion won in revenues, 2.886 trillion won in operating profit (with an operating margin of 23%), and 1.917 trillion won in net profit (with a net margin of 15%) in the first quarter.

With revenues marking an all-time high for a first quarter and the operating profit a second-highest following the records of the first quarter of 2018, SK hynix believes that it has entered the phase of a clear rebound following a prolonged downturn.

The company said that an increase in the sales of AI server products backed by its leadership in AI memory technology including HBM and continued efforts to prioritize profitability led to a 734% on-quarter jump in the operating profit. With the sales ratio of eSSD, a premium product, on the rise and the average selling prices rising, the NAND business has also achieved a meaningful turnaround in the same period.

SK hynix forecasts the overall memory market to be on a steady growth path in coming months as demand for AI memory continues to rise, while the market for the conventional DRAM also starts to recover from the second half. Industry experts believe that inventories both at suppliers and customers will decrease as an increase in production of premium products such as HBM requires higher production capacities than conventional DRAM, resulting in a relative reduction in conventional DRAM supply.

(Photo credit: SK Hynix)

According to the latest memory spot price trends released by TrendForce, overall DRAM spot market demand has not further heated up, and transaction volume has further shrunk. NAND Flash, affected by pessimistic demand, is experiencing a lack of enthusiasm in market price inquiry transactions. For more details:

DRAM Spot Market:

In the spot market, demand has not risen further for chips, and the overall transaction volume continues to shrink. Most module houses have been slow to reduce inventory, so the situation with spot trading has not been ideal. However, procurement momentum is relatively healthy for server DRAM RDIMMs mainly because DRAM suppliers have significantly increased contract prices for these products, thereby causing some increase in demand in the spot market.

Overall, various DRAM products are currently not consistent in terms of price increases and declines. Further observations on the demand situations across different application segments are necessary to determine their price trends. The average spot price of mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) rose by 0.21% from US$1.945 last week to US$1.949 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Market:

Price inquiries have not been robust under a poor outlook on demand as the spot market has started manifesting room for negotiations with channel traders, or even module houses, experiencing an excessive inventory, alongside the obstruction on a further hike of 3D wafer prices. Spot prices of 512Gb TLC wafers have dropped by 0.03% this week, arriving at US$3.764.

According to industry sources cited in a report from Business Korea, Japanese NAND Flash supplier Kioxia is preparing to restart its merger plan with its partner Western Digital (WD). However, SK Hynix, a major shareholder and Korean memory giant, continues to firmly oppose the merger.

The same report citing industry sources also indicates that Kioxia could potentially go public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as October 2024, according to its schedule. Kioxia’s major shareholder, Bain Capital, a U.S. private equity firm, has engaged its creditor banks to review the listing process, with the banks providing over JPY 1 trillion in loans to support this effort.

Despite facing losses of JPY 254 billion from the second to fourth quarters of 2023 and the impending repayment of a JPY 900 billion loan in June 2024, Kioxia has seen improved market conditions in the memory market, leading to higher market quotations and increased revenue to address these financial challenges. This resurgence has prompted Kioxia to restart its merger plans with WD, with the backing of creditor banks supporting this initiative.

However, SK Hynix, which indirectly holds a 15% stake in Kioxia through a KRW 4 trillion investment in Bain Capital, has explicitly stated its opposition to restarting the merger between Kioxia and Western Digital. A representative from SK Hynix cited by the report from Business Korea stated that their position against the merger of Kioxia and WD remains unchanged. However, they are open to discussing potential cooperation under conditions that protect their investment interests.

In 2023, Kioxia and Western Digital had drafted a merger agreement that was blocked due to opposition from SK Hynix. The same report, citing industry sources, suggests that SK Hynix is expected to continue opposing the merger of the two companies. SK Hynix intends to leverage its advantages in the normalization of the NAND Flash market to maximize the gap in market conditions between itself and Kioxia/ WD as much as possible.

For the NAND Flash market, TrendForce’s report in march has indicated that, as of the fourth quarter of 2023, SK Group captures the global market with a share of 21.6%, followed by WD (14.5%) and Kioxia (12.6%).

Read more

• [News] SK Hynix Rumored to Propose Collaboration with Kioxia for HBM Production in Japan
• NAND Flash Industry Revenue Grows 24.5% in Q4 2023, Expected to Increase Another 20% in Q1, Says TrendForce

(Photo credit: Western Digital)

According to a report from Korean media ETNews citing industry sources, it has indicated that Samsung Electronics has recently increased the capacity utilization rate of NAND Flash to over 90%, a further increase from the first quarter’s 80%.

Previously, Korean media including ETNews and The Elec held a relatively optimistic view of Samsung Electronics’ NAND Flash business, reporting that the operating rate of the Xi’an plant had reached 70%. However, the Chosun Daily has a different perspective, suggesting that Samsung Electronics continues to maintain its plan of reducing production by 50%.

According to the same report from ETNews, some NAND Flash fabs of Samsung are currently operating at full capacity, significantly better than the lowest utilization rate of 60% seen in 2023. Reportedly, the capacity utilization rate of the Xi’an plant in China has notably increased, followed by a gradual recovery in the NAND Flash capacity at Samsung’s Pyeongtaek facility in South Korea.

The report further cited another industry source who noted that downstream customers’ inventories of NAND Flash have essentially been depleted, leading to a balanced supply-demand trend. This is reportedly a key driver behind Samsung’s ongoing increase in capacity utilization.

The primary reason for the rise in NAND Flash market demand is attributed to the AI trend driving increased demand for enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs) from related businesses. This includes cloud computing service providers in North America and China increasing their purchases of enterprise storage to meet market demands.

As per TrendForce’s press release in March, it has projected a strong 13–18% increase in Q2 NAND Flash contract prices, with enterprise SSDs expected to rise highest. Despite Kioxia and WDC boosting their production capacity utilization rates from Q1 this year, other suppliers have kept their production strategies conservative. The slight dip in Q2 NAND Flash purchasing—compared to Q1—does not detract from the overall market’s momentum, which continues to be influenced by decreasing supplier inventories and the impact of production cuts.

Read more

• [News] Korean NAND Flash Manufacturers Cautiously Increase Wafer Input, Capacity Utilization Maintains Around 50%
• [News] Western Digital Customer Letter Confirms HDD Supply Shortage! NAND Flash and Hard Drive Prices Continue to Rise

(Photo credit: Samsung)