TrendForce Compuforum 2014: Memory and Storage Industry Development Continuing to Improve due to Mobile Device Growth

TrendForce and Taipei Computer Association (TCA) will be hosting “TrendForce Compuforum” at Computex 2014 in Room 504 at Nanagang Exhibition Hall on June 5, 2014. The event will assemble the company’s four research divisions DRAMeXchange, WitsView, LEDinside and EnergyTrend for the first time. Guest speakers from well-known international manufacturers including SanDisk, ARM, Qualcomm and Synaptics will gather at the event to discuss the latest technology and market trends in 2014. Below is the summarized content:

The DRAM industry showed a strong recovery in 2013 following the consolidation of the market and is poised to become more profitable with the support of the industry’s top three manufacturers. Looking at 2014, DRAMeXchange Assistant Vice President Avril Wu projects the entire industry output value will grow 33% YoY to approximately US $45.9 billion. Industry profits are anticipated to increase in both 2014 and 2015 as the average industry prices stabilize under restrained supply growth and as manufacturers cut down overall spending. With regards to technological advances, given that an increasing number of manufacturers are beginning to push towards 20nm manufacturing process, the annual bit growth for the DRAM industry could arrive to as much as 27% in 2014. The industry’s transformation into an oligopoly, essentially, has brought orders to the supplier market, and makes profitability as the industry priority. 

DRAMeXchange: NAND Flash Industry Development Continues to Improve due to Mobile Device Growth

On the other hand, the shipment momentum of smartphones, tablets, and relevant mobile devices will continue to play a crucial role in stimulating demand for mobile solutions such as eMMC and eMCP. In 2014, the consumption of eMMC, eMCP, and other Mobile NAND that are being utilized will reach an estimated 25%, and the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is expected to reach close to 60%. As eMMC becomes more affordable and with growing number of mainstream manufacturers opting to support the format, eMMC solutions might eventually extend from mainstream mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets into other types of consumer electronic products. This year eMMC will not only be applied in Google’s highly promoted Chromebook, but also in other popular wearable devices. The increasing use of NAND Flash components in novel mobile devices is anticipated to benefit the entire industry's development in the long term, projected DRAMeXchange.

Intuitive touch-based operations significantly contributed to the popularization of mobile devices, but development in the touch module market has far been smooth. Touch module specs have reached maturity in smartphone and tablets. Panel makers continue to release touch module integrated In-cell and On-cell panel products to further accelerate market competition, and has intensified price wars.

“As for the highly-anticipated wearable devices, due to the small display area and unclear level of market acceptance, this segment will have very limited contributions to the touch module industry,” Chiou added. “However, wearable devices are likely to be the first to apply curved and flexible displays and have an opportunity to spear head touch technology development.”

In the past, LED application in cell phones has been minimal, mainly limited to displays and keyboard backlighting. However, the rise of smartphones has led to growing consumer demands for new features including larger displays and higher resolutions. These new capabilities require more LEDs to increase backlight modules brightness. Pixels are used to enhance camera modules and flash LEDs added to provide brighter flash lights, with some smartphone manufactures even using dual-LED flash.

EnergyTrend: Consumer Battery Output to Grow More Than 8% in 2014, Showing Positive Overall Industry Development

“Batteries in the future NB market will focus on high-capacity to meet ultra-thin product trends,” noted Lu. “Although, a new SoC module with higher energy efficiency has been installed in smartphones, demands to prolong battery life continues due to users longer periods of internet surfing and general usage. Moreover, accompanying various wearable devices with motion sensors, these batteries can be applied in consumer and industrial products, thus generating a new wave of demands within the battery industry.”