In compliance with the local policy, Samsung’s Austin-based foundry Line S2 partially suspended operation on Tuesday, Feb 16 due to the winter storm affecting Texas. According to TrendForce’s investigation of the event, as the city’s public utility Austin Energy was able to warn of an impending power blackout ahead of time, the partial shutdown of the plant was not accidental but planned in advance. TrendForce’s data show that the monthly 12-inch capacity of Line S2 accounts for nearly 5% of the global total. While the winter storm is estimated to impair about 1-2% of the global 12-inch wafer foundry capacity, the actual duration of the impact will still depend on the region’s temperature. Assuming that Austin will gradually warm up on Friday, Feb 19, and a phased restoration of power will take place at the fab, TrendForce now expects Line S2 to return to full operation after at least one week.

TrendForce indicates that the main process technologies of the fab are the 14nm and 11nm nodes. These technologies are mainly used to manufacture Qualcomm’s 5G RFICs. The fab’s other production capacity is distributed among production lines that feature nodes ranging from 65nm to 28nm and mainly manufacture products under Samsung System LSI. Additionally, the fab manufactures automotive chips for Tesla and Renesas. Although Samsung had implemented corresponding measures in advance of the blackout, with no silicon wafers reported to be damaged and a mere slight extension in lead times for certain products, Line S2’s increased lead times are still expected to exacerbate the strained semiconductor market in light of the industry’s shortage of production capacities for various semiconductor applications, including automotive products, which remain in extremely high demand.

Despite the blackout’s limited impact on NAND Flash controller manufacturing, urgent orders from SSD purchasers may result in a potential price hike

It should be pointed out that, although Line S2 has stopped manufacturing NAND Flash, Samsung LSI still manufactures 14-40nm NAND Flash/SSD controllers at the fab. Given that the volume of wafer starts for controllers at Line S2 is relatively low, and Samsung had already made emergency response preparations ahead of time, the blackout is expected to result in only a slight extension of lead times, without significant impact on the overall controller output. However, as PC OEMs and CSPs are now starting to negotiate for the procurement of SSDs, major SSD suppliers have taken the strained supply of controller ICs into account when quoting SSD prices. As such, despite the blackout’s relatively low impact on NAND Flash/SSD controller manufacturing, SSD purchasers, including the aforementioned PC OEMs and CSPs, may potentially accept a price hike during the negotiation process due to their urgency in procuring additional SSDs. With regards to 2Q21 prices, TrendForce is currently adhering to the previous forecast of “mostly flat” for client SSDs and “slight decline” for enterprise SSDs, but TrendForce does not rule out the possibility that overall SSD prices may move in a positive trajectory once some purchasers accept a price hike.

For more information on reports and market data from TrendForce’s Department of Semiconductor Research, please click here, or email Ms. Latte Chung from the Sales Department at lattechung@trendforce.com

NAND Flash demand continues to rise as strong sales of notebook (laptop) computers spur PC OEMs to place additional orders for client SSDs, according to TrendForce’s latest investigations. Also, the supply-side inventory for NAND Flash memory has already fallen considerably due to the aggressive stock-up activities of some smartphone brands. With customers in the data center segment expected to ramp up procurement in 2Q21, NAND Flash suppliers have decided to scale back the supply of NAND Flash wafers. Compared with other product categories, wafers have a lower gross margin. As a result of these factors, the decline in contract prices of wafers has been easing over the past two months (i.e., from December of last year to January of this year).

TrendForce indicates that the migration to the 1XX-L processes has not been proceeding as smoothly and rapidly as expected for notebook SSDs during 1Q21. The testing and approval of 1XX-L products by PC OEMs has actually fallen behind schedule, so the bulk of demand is staying with the 92/96L processes rather than shifting toward the more advanced stacking processes. At the same time, customers in other application segments are still focusing their demand on the 92/96L processes as well as the 64L processes. Consequently, the NAND Flash market is now seeing a general tightening of supply. Wafers are the first to be affected by this turn of events since this product category is low on priority for suppliers. As suppliers curb the quantity of wafers in order to meet the growing demand from other applications, contract prices of wafers are starting to display a more stable trend. In fact, some suppliers are raising quotes for wafers this February. Based on this latest development, TrendForce has revised its projection of wafer prices for 1Q21. The previous projection predicted a QoQ decline of 10-15%, whereas the latest projection indicates that prices will hold relatively steady from 4Q20.

Looking ahead to 2Q21, customers in the data center and server segments are expected to generate a stronger procurement momentum. NAND Flash suppliers will therefore concentrate on meeting the demand for enterprise SSDs and pay less attention to the wafer segment. However, the volume of orders from module houses will be somewhat muted due to the influence of the ongoing shortage and price hike for NAND Flash controller ICs. As both supply and demand become weakened, NAND Flash wafer prices are thereby expected to remain mostly flat for 2Q21.

ICs in the upstream supply chain, however, remain in severe shortage. As such, even though NAND Flash suppliers have been putting forth a full effort to fulfill the demand for client SSDs, they will still have to beware of the possibility that actual notebook shipment may fall short of expectations due to an uneven distribution in the supply of raw materials. Furthermore, should the pandemic become gradually alleviated in 2H21, the global notebook demand may begin approaching pre-pandemic levels, in turn leading PC OEMs to revise their business plans accordingly. TrendForce therefore believes that uncertainties will still exist in the NAND Flash market in 2H21.

With regards to the NAND Flash wafer market, the current short supply can be attributed to the fact that demand is mainly focused on certain specific product generations. The decline in NAND Flash wafer prices in 1H21 is thus drastically narrowed, while demand from mostly the server side will also provide some upward momentum for NAND Flash wafer prices afterwards. However, Micron will ramp up its 176L products starting from 3Q21. As these products have been significantly improved in terms of cost, and the main NAND Flash applications will have transitioned to products with higher layer counts by then, the impact on NAND Flash wafer prices in 2H21 remains to be seen.

For more information on reports and market data from TrendForce’s Department of Semiconductor Research, please click here, or email Ms. Latte Chung from the Sales Department at lattechung@trendforce.com