According to TrendForce’s research, Apple's Q3 iPhone shipments reached a total of 33.8 million units. Together, the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C account for more than 50% of all of Apple’s shipped iPhones. Given that the iPhone 5C's price ended up being a lot higher than expected, its Q4 shipments have been adjusted downwards by 11 million units, and is projected to account for only 24% of the total iPhones shipped during the quarter. The iPhone 5S's sales performance, by comparison, turned out to be a lot better than expected; By the end of 4Q13, the said model is likely to account for nearly 70% of all the iPhones shipped. The total number of iPhones shipped in 4Q13 is projected to increase by 2.2% YoY to 46 million units.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the Q3 worldwide DRAM revenues showed a 9% QoQ increase despite the price growth in 3Q13 being slower than that of 1H13. The Q3 revenue growth is mostly attributable to the improvements in the structure of the DRAM industry, and is likely to enable various DRAM vendors to sustain their profitability. On average, all three of the biggest DRAM manufacturers were able to enjoy an estimated 2% QoQ increase in their operating margins, with the output of PC DRAM being a key differentiating factor.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the NAND Flash manufacturers' Q3 revenues have remained on a steady uptrend despite the absence of any obvious upward pricing movements in the third quarter.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the 2H’Oct NAND Flash contract prices have dropped by 2-8% (compared to 1H’Oct) due to weak market demand. In the periods following the fire accident at SK Hynix's Wuxi plant, SK Hynix and Samsung both allocated portions of their NAND Flash capacity to DRAM as a means to compensate for lost DRAM production.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the penetration rate of SD 3.0 memory cards may only be around 10% in 2013. The main reason for this is that the SD 3.0 format has yet to be widely adopted in system products (for instance, smartphones, tablets, and cameras), and that the majority of the demand comes only from the channel market, which has fewer shipments proportionally compared to system OEM market. In the event that the above situations gradually improve, the penetration rate of SD 3.0 memory cards has a legitimate shot of approaching 20% in 2014.
