The 1H'June NAND Flash contract prices showed a slight 2-4% increase, according to DRAMeXchange, the memory and storage research division of TrendForce. Factors propelling the price growth include smartphone manufacturers’ increased restocking momentum as well as the reduced short term supplies resulting from the NAND Flash suppliers’ accelerated technological migrations. Looking at the third quarter, DRAMeXchange believes that the upward contract price momentum will continue as the rising demands for new Apple products, Chinese smartphones, and SSDs begin to limit the amount of NAND Flash supplies available to the channel clients.
PC DRAM supplies for the second half of the year have begun to tighten due to the major DRAM suppliers' continuous transition from PC DRAM to Mobile DRAM, the relatively low 25nm yield rates experienced by some of the DRAM manufacturers, and the delays with the 20nm process migrations, according to DRAMeXchange, the memory and storage research division of TrendForce.
The shipment performances of Smartphones, Tablets, and Notebooks were relatively weak in the first quarter due to seasonality, according to DRAMeXchange, the memory and storage research division of TrendForce. As a result of the entire NAND Flash market’s oversupply in 1Q 2014, the branded suppliers’ Q1 revenues saw a 6.6% drop compared to the previous quarter, and slid to approximately US$ 7,244 million.
Due to the potentially strong peak quarter performances of smartphones, tablets, and enterprise SSDs, the 2014 NAND Flash bit demand is expected to grow 39% compared to the previous year, whereas total industry output value has a chance of rising 5% YoY to US$ 25.2 billion, according to DRAMeXchange.
The DRAM market became highly profitable last year after transforming into an oligopoly, according to DRAMeXchange, the memory and storage research division of TrendForce. The entire Q1 industry value grew 2% QoQ to reaching new heights at US$ 9.94 Billion. SK Hynix, one of the industry's largest DRAM manufacturers, managed to show a highly noteworthy performance following its recovery from last year's fire accident with operating margin growth jumping from 29% to 36%. As other DRAM manufacturers display similarly impressive performances this year, 2014 is considered an optimal for the entire DRAM industry, TrendForce predicts that the total DRAM industry value will grow 30% YoY to approximately US$ 45 Billion.