As AI-related semiconductors has been driving the demand of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), the NAND flash market now also feels the vibe. According to industry sources cited by Business Korea, the NAND Flash market competition is intensifying, while memory giants Samsung and SK Hynix are ramping up their efforts to improve the performance and capacity of NAND products.

In April, Samsung confirmed that it has begun mass production for its one-terabit (Tb) triple-level cell (TLC) 9th-generation vertical NAND (V-NAND), boasted to improve the bit density by about 50% compared to the 8th-generation V-NAND, with the number of layers reaching 290, according an earlier report by The Korea Economic Daily.

Based on the report on May 20 by Business Korea, Samsung intends to dominate the AI SSD market with its 9th Generation V-NAND, targeting the development and sampling of ultra-high capacity 64 terabyte (TB) SSDs in the second quarter.

In mid-May, Samsung even revealed the target to release advanced NAND Flash with over 1000 layers by 2030. According to an earlier report by Wccftech, the South Korean memory giant plans to apply new ferroelectric materials on the manufacturing of NAND.

On the other hand, the current HBM3 supply for NVIDIA’s H100 solution is primarily met by SK Hynix, leading to a supply shortfall in meeting burgeoning AI market demands. After establishing its leadership in HBM, it is reported that SK Hynix now aims to dominate the AI memory market in NAND as well, according to Business Korea.

It is worth noting that SK Hynix recently achieved a breakthrough with the development of “Zoned UFS 4.0” (ZUFS 4.0), an on-device AI mobile NAND solution tailored for AI-capable smartphones, which is scheduled to start mass production in the third quarter, according to TheElec.

(Photo credit: Samsung)

The recovery in demand for PCs and smartphones will take time, leading to a halt in the upward trend of DRAM prices, remaining stable for two consecutive months. However, the rapid growth in demand for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), essential for data center servers and generative AI, is expected to boost future DRAM prices as the production trend of HBM rises.

The Nikkei News reported on May 18th that the recovery in demand for PCs and smartphones will take time, leading to a halt in the upward trend of DRAM prices used in smartphones, PCs, and data center servers for temporary data storage.

In April 2024, the wholesale price (bulk transaction price) of the benchmark product DDR4 8Gb was around USD 1.95 per unit, and the price of the smaller capacity 4Gb product was around USD 1.50 per unit, both remaining unchanged from the previous month (March 2024) and marking the second consecutive month of stability.

As of February 2024, DRAM prices had risen for four consecutive months. DRAM wholesale prices are negotiated between memory manufacturers and customers monthly or quarterly. Reportedly, approximately 50% of DRAM demand comes from PCs and servers, while around 35% comes from smartphones.

The report indicated that the demand for HBM, essential for generative AI, is rapidly increasing, and market expectations for the production trend of HBM are expected to boost future DRAM price increases.

A source cited in the report, which is an Electronic product trader, noted that some major manufacturers have accepted the memory manufacturers’ price hike requests. A PC manufacturer source cited by the report also stated that DRAM wholesale prices from April to June are expected to rise by 5-10% compared to January to March.

Another source cited by the report stated that the facilities required to produce HBM are approximately three times larger than those needed for producing general DRAM. If HBM production increases, the production volume of other DRAMs will decrease, thereby driving up prices. Another source cited in the report stated that supply cannot keep up with demand, and pricing power is currently in the hands of memory manufacturers.

Read more

• [News] Samsung and SK Hynix Urgently Reallocate 20% of DRAM Production Capacity to Support Rising HBM demand
• [News] Three-way Contest for HBM Dominance, Uncertainties Surrounding China’s Supply Chain Involvement

(Photo credit: SK Hynix)

Industry sources cited by a report from Economic Daily News have indicated that Apple is accelerating the development of its foldable device, moving up the expected launch from 2026 to 2025. Apple has reportedly placed orders for flexible panels from Samsung, with plans for the foldable device to debut with the iPad before expanding to the iPhone.

Moreover, the smartphone market leader is said to have already secured a supply of flexible panels from Samsung in the first half of this year, hinting at its determination to enter the foldable market.

Hinges are expected to be the most crucial and newly added component for Apple’s foldable device, experiencing a surge in demand. Shin Zu Shing, Taiwanese supplier for foldable smartphone hinges, having cooperated with Apple in the field for many years, stands to benefit greatly.

In addition,  other Taiwanese Apple supply chain partners, including Foxconn, Largan Precision, and Pegatron, are anticipated to benefit similarly as with existing iPad and iPhone production. The aforementioned Apple suppliers typically refrain from commenting on individual customer and order dynamics.

A report from SamMobile also indicated that, Apple may have signed a contract with Samsung Display (SDC) for the supply of foldable displays. It is estimated in the same report that limited supplies will begin in 2025, ramping up to mass production in 2026. By 2027, the supply is expected to reach 65 million units, increasing to 100 million units in 2028.

Additionally, the ordered display sizes are larger than those of existing iPhones, indicating that the display components procured by Apple from Samsung will be used in new foldable device products.

Industry sources cited in the report from Economic Daily News believe that Apple’s first foldable device will be unveiled by the end of 2025 or early 2026, targeting the ultra-high-end market segment. It is expected to come in two sizes: 7.9 inches and 8.3 inches, competing against foldable devices from Samsung and Huawei.

According to the analysis released by TrendForce in the second half of last year, Apple’s development in the folding field still requires time. Apple’s foray into foldables has been tepid, to say the least.

TrendForce reports that global shipments of foldable phones reached 15.9 million units in 2023, marking a 25% YoY increase and accounting for approximately 1.4% of the overall smartphone market. In 2024, shipments are expected to rise to about 17.7 million units, growing by 11% and slightly increasing the market share to 1.5%. However, this growth rate remains below market expectations, with the segment’s share predicted to exceed 2% only by 2025.

Read more

• [News] Apple Reportedly Joins the Foldable Phone Market, Setting Stage for Three-Way Competition

(Photo credit: Apple)

According to a report from Korean media The Korea Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics Co. is planning to apply its 3nm process chips to its Galaxy series smartphones and smartwatches, posing a challenge to rivals Apple and TSMC.

The report cited industry sources on May 13th, stating that Samsung’s second-generation 3nm production line in South Korea is set to commence operations in the latter half of this year (2024). The first product to be manufactured on this line will reportedly be the application processor (AP) for the upcoming Galaxy Watch7, tentatively named “Exynos W1000,” which is expected to be unveiled in July.

As per the same report citing sources, the Exynos W1000 is set to utilize the semiconductor industry’s most advanced second-generation 3nm process, with computing performance and power efficiency expected to increase by over 20%. In comparison, the Apple Watch Series 9 utilizes a 5nm application processor.

On another note, industry sources cited by the same report revealed that Samsung’s next-generation flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S25, scheduled for an early 2025 release, will also feature the 3nm Exynos W1000 application processor. Samsung aims to unveil this technology ahead of the Paris Summer Olympics opening on July 26th, with a “Galaxy Unpacked” event scheduled for July 10th in Paris.

The mobile processor industry has entered the 3nm battleground. Per Wccftech’s previous report, it is rumored that TSMC’s N3E process is also used for producing products like the A18 Pro chip scheduled to be used in iPhone 16 Pro, the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 4, and the MediaTek Dimensity 9400, among other major clients’ products.

Meanwhile, as per a report from another South Korean media outlet TheElec, Siyoung Choi, the President of Samsung’s Foundry Business, predicted during the annual shareholders’ meeting on March 20th that the second-generation 3nm process is expected to begin production in the latter half of this year, while production for the 2nm process is slated for next year.

Read more

• [News] Apple M4 Incoming, Boosting TSMC’s 3nm Production
• [News] Rise of In-House Chips: 5 Tech Giants In the Front

(Photo credit: Samsung)

As a strategic technology empowering a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, AI has become one of the key driving forces for the development of new industrialization. Fueled by the ChatGPT craze, AI and its applications are rapidly gaining traction worldwide. From an industrial perspective, NVIDIA currently holds almost absolute dominance in the AI chip market.

Meanwhile, major tech companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple are actively joining the competition, scrambling to seize the opportunity. Meta, Google, Intel, and Apple have launched the latest AI chips in hopes of reducing reliance on companies like NVIDIA. Microsoft and Samsung have also reportedly made investment plans for AI development.

• Microsoft Announced an Investment Plan of over USD 11 Billion

Recently, according to multiple global media reports, Microsoft is developing a new AI mega-model called MAI-1. This model far exceeds some of Microsoft’s previously released open-source models in scale and is expected to rival well-known large models like Google’s Gemini 1.5, Anthropic’s Claude 3, and OpenAI’s GPT-4 in terms of performance. Reports suggest that Microsoft may demonstrate MAI-1 at the upcoming Build developer conference.

In response to the growing demand for AI computing, Microsoft recently announced a plan to invest billions of dollars in building AI infrastructure in Wisconsin. Microsoft stated that this move will create 2,300 construction jobs, and could contribute to up to 2,000 data center jobs when completing construction.

Furthermore, Microsoft will establish a new AI lab at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to provide AI technology training.

Microsoft’s investment plan in the US involves an amount of USD 3.3 billion, which plus its investments previously announced in Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand amount to over USD 11 billion in reference to AI-related field.

Microsoft’s recent announcements shows that it plans to invest USD 2.9 billion over the next two years to enhance its cloud computing and AI infrastructure in Japan, USD 1.7 billion within the next four years to expand cloud services and AI in Indonesia, including building data centers, USD 2.2 billion over the next four years in Malaysia in cloud computing and AI, and USD 1 billion to set up the first data center in Thailand, dedicated to providing AI skills training for over 100,000 people.

• Apple Reportedly Developing in-House AI Chip for Data Center

Apple has also unveiled its first AI chip, M4. Apple introduced that the neural engine in M4 chip is the most powerful one the company has ever developed, outstripping any neural processing unit in current AI PCs. Apple further emphasized that it will “break new ground” in generative AI this year, bringing transformative opportunities to users.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Apple has been working on its own chips designed to run AI software on data center servers. Sources cited in the report revealed that the internal codename for the server chip project is ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center). The report indicates that the ACDC project has been underway for several years, but it’s currently uncertain whether this new chip will be commissioned and when it might hit the market.

Tech journalist Mark Gurman also suggests that Apple will introduce AI capabilities in the cloud this year using its proprietary chips. Gurman’s sources indicate that Apple intends to deploy high-end chips (Similar to those designed for Mac) in cloud computing servers to handle cutting-edge AI tasks on Apple devices. Simpler AI-related functions will continue to be processed directly by chips embedded in iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices.

• Samsung might Start Pilot production for AI Inference Chip Mach-1

As per industry sources cited by South Korean media outlet ZDNet Korea, Samsung Electronics’ AI inference chip, Mach-1, is set to begin prototype production using a multi-project wafer (MPW) approach and is expected to be based on Samsung’s in-house 4nm process.

Previously at a shareholder meeting, Samsung revealed its plan to launch a self-made AI accelerator chip, Mach-1, in early 2025. As a critical step in Samsung’s AI development strategy, Mach-1 chip is an AI inference accelerator built on application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design and equipped with LPDDR memory, making it particularly suitable for edge computing applications.

Kyung Kye-hyun, head of Samsung Electronics’ DS (Semiconductor) division, stated that the development goal of this chip is to reduce the data bottleneck between off-chip memory and computing chips to 1/8 through algorithms, while also achieving an eight-fold improvement in efficiency. He noted that Mach-1 chip design has gained the verification of field-programmable gate array (FPGA) technology and is currently in the physical implementation stage of system-on-chip (SoC), which is expected to be ready in late 2024, with a Mach-1 chip-driven AI system to be launched in early 2025.

In addition to developing AI chip Mach-1, Samsung has established a dedicated research lab in Silicon Valley focusing on general artificial intelligence (AGI) research. The intention is to develop new processors and memory technologies capable of meeting future AGI system processing requirements.

Read more

• [News] Microsoft to Build AI Data Center at Former Foxconn Planned Panel Plant Site in Wisconsin
• [News] Apple Allegedly Developing AI Processor for Data Centers, with TSMC as Its Foundry Partner

(Photo credit: Pixabay)