According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, regarding DRAM spot prices, since inventory levels are not excessively high, the selling pressure remains manageable. DDR4 products, though, have been suffering from the downward pressure more than DDR5. As for NAND flash, the spot market continues to sustain repercussions of sluggishness among consumer products. A number of brands are now pessimistic regarding how this wave of market enervation would persist until 1H25. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

Due to an underwhelming peak season, spot sellers are under pressure to offload inventory, leading to a slight sell-off. However, since inventory levels are not excessively high, the selling pressure remains manageable. Meanwhile, Samsung has recently begun releasing reball DDR5 chips stripped from decommissioned modules at low prices. For instance, 2Gx8 (16Gb) chips are being sold for around US$3, contributing to the overall decline in spot prices. For DDR4 products, the plentiful supply of reball chips is exerting even more downward pressure compared with DDR5 products. Consequently, there is no sign of stabilization in spot prices. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) slightly decreased by 0.05% from US$1.973 last week to US$1.972 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

The spot market continues to sustain repercussions of sluggishness among consumer products, where lackluster transactions are seen from client SSD, embedded products (eMMC & UFS), and memory cards. A number of brands are now pessimistic regarding how this wave of market enervation would persist until 1H25. Spot prices, compared to last week, have been continuously dropping at a small margin. Spot prices for 512Gb TLC wafers have dropped by 0.81% this week, arriving at US$3.185.

According to TrendForce’s latest memory spot price trend report, regarding DRAM spot prices, improvements are unlikely in the near term as reballed chip supply remains plentiful and DDR5 price pressure emerges. As for NAND flash, several suppliers have also lowered their official prices amidst ongoing sluggishness of demand. Details are as follows:

DRAM Spot Price:

The spot market has shown no signs of improvement this week and prices continue to fall. In addition to weak channel demand, the supply of reballed chips also remains plentiful. Moreover, a South Korean supplier has recently slightly increased its supply of DDR5 products to the spot market, generating more downward price pressure. Hence, improvements in current spot price trends are unlikely in the near term. The average spot price of the mainstream chips (i.e., DDR4 1Gx8 2666MT/s) dropped by 0.25% from US$1.978 last week to US$1.973 this week.

NAND Flash Spot Price:

Several suppliers have lowered their official prices amidst ongoing sluggishness of demand, and spot prices could continue to weaken if demand for consumer products remains lackluster. Spot prices for 512Gb TLC wafers have dropped by 0.71% this week, arriving at US$3.211.

Kioxia has moved forward with its plans to go public, starting the process on August 23. This development follows Bain Capital, a U.S. private equity firm with a majority stake in Kioxia, submitting an application for the listing to the Tokyo Stock Exchange on the same day, according to Nikkei.

Kioxia, formerly Toshiba Memory Corporation, was spun off from Toshiba in 2018 and rebranded. Bain Capital spearheads a special purpose company that, along with South Korea’s SK Hynix, holds a 56% stake in Kioxia Holdings, making it the largest shareholder. Toshiba retains a 41% stake.

SK Hynix first invested in Kioxia in 2018, committing a total of 4 trillion won (around $2.9 billion). This investment was split between 2.7 trillion won into a private equity fund led by Bain Capital and 1.3 trillion won to acquire Kioxia convertible bonds issued by Toshiba. However, the latest report from Korean media BusinessKorea highlights that SK Hynix has faced difficulties recovering its investment due to Kioxia’s delayed IPO, failed merger attempts, and a weak semiconductor market.

Kioxia had planned to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2020, but escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and China led to a postponement. In 2023, Kioxia attempted to merge with Western Digital’s memory division to better compete with Samsung Electronics in the NAND flash market, but the effort was blocked by SK Hynix.

Despite these challenges, Kioxia posted a net profit of 69.8 billion yen in the second quarter of this year, its highest second-quarter earnings, as demand for memory in smartphones and PCs bottomed out. With signs of a semiconductor market recovery, Kioxia is pushing for a re-listing to enhance its financial flexibility.

According to Nikkei, after the listing, Bain Capital and Toshiba are expected to gradually reduce their stakes through share sales. SK hynix is also likely to sell part of its stake to recover its investment while maintaining strategic ties with Kioxia and Toshiba.

BusinessKorea believes that should Kioxia achieve a high valuation and successfully go public later this year, SK Group could recover its investment, enabling SK Hynix to reinvest in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI applications.

(Photo credit: Kioxia)

China’s GPU company Lisuan Technology, based in Shanghai, has averted the crisis of bankruptcy, as it secures around 328 million yuan (nearly USD 46 billion) in financing from domestic NAND/ DRAM manufacturer Dosilicon and others, according to a report by Chinese media outlet Sina.

On August 20^th, Dosilicon made an announcement, stating that it plans to invest 200 million yuan of its own funds to increase the stake in Lisuan Tech. By subscribing to an additional 5 million yuan of Lisuan’s newly registered capital, the memory company will hold approximately 37.88% of Lisuan’s equity.

On the other hand, the report notes that other investors plan to inject a total of 128 million yuan to Lisuan, subscribing to a total of 3.2 million yuan in its newly added registered capital. In total, Lisuan Tech has received 328 million yuan in financing from Dosilicon and others.

Regarding the reasons behind the investment, the report indicates that there is a certain level of synergy between Dosilicon and its target company, Lisuan Tech. As Dosilicon has already established a portfolio of both standard and niche DRAM products, its R&D team can further engage in technical collaboration with the graphics rendering chip design team at Lisuan to enhance the design capabilities of both parties.

The report, citing public information, states that Lisuan Tech, with 20 years of experience in GPU development and design, is one of the few domestic companies in China capable of providing customized high-performance GPU solutions.

The firm’s first 6nm GPU, based on its self-developed ‘Pangu’ architecture, is ready for tape-out, the report suggests. The product even boasts to offer performance on par with NVIDIA’s high-end graphics cards.

However, due to delays in securing financing, the company has fallen into difficulties, with rumors circulating that it was facing bankruptcy.

According to the data cited by the report, in 2023, Lisuan had no revenue and a net loss of 145 million yuan. In the first half of 2024, it reported no revenue and a net loss of 97.9 million yuan. The bulk of the losses was said to stem from R&D investments.

Read more

• [News] ASML Claims the World Counts on China for Legacy Chips; So Do Chip Equipment Giants
• [News] China Makes Progress in Chip Tool Self-Sufficiency, Yet Lithography Remains a Key Bottleneck

(Photo credit: Lisuan Tech)

According to the reports from EETimes China and Blocks &Files, Western Digital (WD) is said to be considering spinning off its NAND and SSD business, which could be valued similarly to Solidigm.

Reportedly, WD plans to split into two separate business units: one focused on producing hard disk drives (HDDs) and the other on NAND flash memory and SSDs. This strategy is expected to enhance operational efficiency within each unit, allowing them to concentrate on their core strengths and ultimately achieve greater market value.

According to the report, WD CEO David Goeckeler will lead the NAND and SSD unit, while Executive Vice President of Global Operations Irving Tan will take on the role of CEO for the HDD business

Citing calculations by an analyst, the report notes that  the standalone value of WD’s NAND and SSD business could range from USD 10 billion to 22 billion. This suggests that spinning off these businesses could lead to a higher market valuation for the company.

The report states that the market has not yet fully recognized the value of WD’s NAND business, and that the combined independent value of the two companies post-split will be at least USD 30 billion, with the potential to exceed USD 40 billion.

Read more

• [News] WD and FADU to Co-Develop Enterprise SSD Technology
• [News] Kioxia and Western Digital Restart Merger Plan, SK Hynix Reportedly Remains Opposition

(Photo credit: Western Digital)