The NAND flash market is picking up thanks to the launching of new models in the smartphone market and the stock-up demand for upcoming iPhone, according to the latest report from DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. The global research institution also estimates that the excess supply of NAND flash will be corrected in the third quarter.
According to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, smartphone shipments have been weak since the beginning of 2015. The decline in Q1 shipments was up to 9.2% QoQ. Although heavyweights Apple and Samsung are showing relatively strong shipments figures in Q2, significant smartphone growth is not expected for the quarter as channel inventory in China remains high.
Seeing massive growth potential in the Internet of Things (IoT) sector, technology giant IBM on March 31 announced that it will invest US$3 billion over the next four years to create a new IoT unit. Big Blue also announced that it will work with The Weather Company to provide weather data to unmanned aerial vehicles, buildings, and smartphones sensors, so operators of these IoT-based facilities and devices will be able to make the right business decisions.
On March 12, a Chinese consortium led by Summitview Capital announced its acquisition of Integrated Silicon Solution (ISSI), a fabless IC company listed on the NASDAQ, for 640 million USD. And with this acquisition, the Chinese government has officially declared its entry into the semiconductor manufacturing sector.
The newest report from DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, indicates that TLC NAND flash will account for nearly half of the total NAND flash output in 4Q15. With TLC NAND applications shifting from memory card and USB drive to OEM storage devices such as eMMC/eMCP and SSD, manufacturers will in turn launch their TLC-based storage solutions this year.
