TrendForce has released the latest panel quotations for late April. The upward trend in TV is beginning to stabilize due to the increased supply capacity; monitor (MNT) panel prices continue to rise in April as the demand remains strong; for notebook (NB) panel, amid challenges in forming a consensus for price increases, NB panel prices continue to hover at the bottom.

More details are as follows:

• TV

In April, signs of weakening demand for television panels have emerged, particularly evident in the weakening demand for TVs sized 55 inches and below. Only large-size TV panels of 65-inch and above continue to be supported by subsequent peak-season promotional stocking demands.

Meanwhile, panel manufacturers continue to operate at relatively high capacity levels. With increased supply capacity, the upward trend in panel prices is beginning to stabilize. In April, the expected price increases for TV panels include 1 USD for 32-inch, 43-inch and 50-inch; 2 USD for 55-inch; 4~5 USD for 65-inch and 75-inch.

• MNT

Driven by the price increases in TV panels, the MNT panel sector has seen panel manufacturers actively negotiating with customers in hopes of improving the profitability of MNT panels. Starting from March, they have successfully raised the prices of MNT panels.

Entering April, demand for consumer-grade models from some customers remains strong. The extended shipping times caused by the shipping crisis have forced some customers to increase inventory levels and stock up earlier. Additionally, the risk of capacity constraints due to the improved demand for TV panels still exists.

Therefore, it is expected that MNT panel prices will continue to rise in April, with the possibility of further expansion in price increases. For Open Cell panels, the prices for mainstream sizes like 23.8 inch and 27 inch are expected to rise by 0.7 USD. As for panel modules, the 21.5-inch and 23.8-inch are projected to increase by 0.5 USD, while the 27-inch is expected to increase by 0.4 USD.

• NB

After passing through the off-season in the first quarter, NB panel demand from brands remains weak entering April, without the expected strong rebound.

Due to this weak demand, there is a noticeable disparity among panel manufacturers regarding their stance on price increases. This disparity makes it challenging for panel manufacturers to create a rising price trend similar to that seen in TV and MNT panels. With a consensus on price increases difficult to form, NB panel prices continue to hover at a low point.

Looking at April, it is expected that only TN panel models, due to their lower prices, may see a slight increase of around 1 USD. IPS panel models are mostly expected to remain stable, while 16:10 panel models are anticipated to stay flat or decrease slightly by up to 0.2 USD.

Read more

• [Insights] March Panel Prices Update, TV Brands Further Increased, Notebook Panel Prices Await Clear Direction
• [Insights] Late February Panel Prices Update, TV Panel Prices Return to Rising Trend

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)

Apple has released its supply chain list for the 2023 fiscal year, with notable changes compared to the 2022 list. According to a report from CNA, Major IC substrate manufacturer Nan Ya PCB has returned to Apple’s supply chain list, while Nanya Technology, Lotes, Novatek are no longer included. TSMC, Foxconn, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE), Pegatron, Compal, Wistron, and YAGEO remain part of Apple’s supply chain.

Apple’s 2023 fiscal year supply chain list covers approximately 98% of the materials, manufacturing, and assembly related to Apple products globally.

Compared to the 2022 supply chain list, for Foxconn, the updated list shows manufacturing locations for Apple products in Guangdong, Henan, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Zhejiang provinces in China, with the addition of Jiangxi while Hubei continues to be excluded. In other global regions, locations in Amazonas and Sao Paulo in Brazil, as well as California in the United States, are not included in the current list. However, locations in Tamil Nadu, India, and Bac Giang province, Vietnam, remain on the list.

For ASE, related locations include Jiangsu and Shanghai in China, Yamagata Prefecture in Japan, Taiwan, and Hai Phong City in Vietnam, with Gyeonggi-do in South Korea and Singapore continuing to be excluded.

Notably, companies including FPGA designer Lattice Semiconductor’s facility in Taiwan, Nanya’s facilities in Jiangsu and Taiwan, Lotes Terminal’s facility in Guangdong, Novatek Microelectronics and Taiwanese company Triotek Technology Incorporated are no longer parts of Apple’s supply chain for the fiscal year 2023.

On the other hand, major IC substrate manufacturer Nan Ya PCB, with facilities in Jiangsu, China, and Taiwan, has returned to Apple’s supply chain list. Golden Arrow Printing Company, with locations in Jiangsu, China, and Henan Province, Vietnam, is a new addition to Apple’s supply chain list.

Regarding Taiwanese companies that were first included in Apple’s supply chain list in 2022, including Platinum Optics Technology Incorporated, Primax Electronics Limited with locations in Guangdong, Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation with locations in Guangdong and Jiangsu, Trinseo in Taiwan, and Winbond Electronics Corporation, these companies remain on Apple’s supply chain list for the 2023 fiscal year.

Furthermore, major Taiwanese companies such as TSMC, Catcher, Foxlink, Compal, Compeq, Delta Electronics, Largan Precision, Lite-On Technology Corporation, Pegatron, Shin Zu Shing, TXC Corporation, Unimicron Technology Corporation, Unitech, Wistron, and YAGEO continue to be included in Apple’s supply chain list.

Read more

• [News] Apple’s Abandonment of Micro LED Watch Project Reportedly Results in Further Impact
• [News] Foxconn Capitalizes on AI Opportunities? Reportedly Looking at Apple’s AI Server Market, B200 Also Poised to Succeed

(Photo credit: Apple)

Japanese digital infrastructure service provider Sakura Internet, backed by government subsidies, is enhancing its cloud services for generative AI. According to a report from MoneyDJ, Sakura Internet’s procurement of GPUs is set to increase fivefold from the initial plan, with purchases including NVIDIA’s latest product, the “B200,” unveiled in March.

On April 19th, Sakura announced that it has secured Japanese government subsidies to strengthen its cloud service “Koukaryoku” for generative AI. The company plans to expand the number of GPUs deployed in “Koukaryoku” to fivefold from the initially planned quantity, aiming to incorporate around 10,000 GPUs, including NVIDIA’s latest “NVIDIA HGX B200 system” introduced in March. The goal is to establish a large-scale cloud infrastructure with a computational power of 18.9 EFLOPS by the end of March 2028.

Sakura had previously received similar government subsidies in June 2023, marking this as the second time they have received such support.

Sakura announced that last June they invested JPY 13 billion, aiming to purchase approximately 2,000 NVIDIA GPUs (with a computational power of 2.0 EFLOPS) between July 2023 and March 2025. Due to significantly higher demand than expected, the procurement of these 2,000 GPUs is projected to be completed ahead of schedule by the end of June 2024.

This new investment plan, totaling around JPY 100 billion (including costs for server components other than GPUs and maintenance fees), targets additional procurement of approximately 8,000 GPUs (with a computational power of 16.9 EFLOPS) between April 2024 and December 2027.

The overall GPU procurement quantity of around 10,000 units will thus be five times the original plan of approximately 2,000 units. According to Japanese media reports, Sakura will provide server computing power equipped with these GPUs to companies engaged in generative AI research.

On April 19, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan announced that in order to establish the necessary supercomputers for developing generative AI domestically in Japan, they will provide a maximum subsidy of JPY 72.5 billion to five Japanese companies, with Sakura receiving a maximum subsidy of JPY 50.1 billion.