The sales revenue of DRAM module worldwide for 2015 was around US$7.9 billion, representing a decrease of 10% compared with the 2014 figure, according to the latest revenue ranking of DRAM module makers by DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. The decline in the 2015 revenue was mainly attributed to the falling PC DRAM prices and the shrinking of the DIY market.
The supply shortage that persisted in the NAND Flash market during the third quarter will become more acute in the fourth quarter due to surging demand from clients in the smartphone and SSD industries, says DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce. Prices of NAND Flash wafers and memory cards will certainly be on an upswing until the end of 2016, while eMMC, eMCP and SSD products are also going to see their prices go up. Compared with the third quarter, NAND Flash suppliers will enjoy even higher margins and better revenue results in the fourth quarter.
PV product manufacturers in Taiwan and China saw orders returning in the second half of September, while prices of polysilicon, wafers and PV cells started to rally after reaching their lows, according to EnergyTrend, a division of TrendForce. The capacity utilization rates of many manufacturers also rose from under 50% back to 70~80%. As the Chinese government has planned to significantly cut its renewable energy subsidy in the middle of 2017, EnergyTrend expects the country’s PV system installation demand to take off again towards the end of 2016.
Prices of LED light bulbs were steady through September as the global LED market picked up significantly and LED chip prices remained stable, according to the latest report by LEDinside, a division of TrendForce.
Notebook shipments worldwide for 2016 are projected around 156 million units, down 5.1% from 2015, according to the latest report from the global market research firm TrendForce. Chromebook shipments, however, has been expanding against the general trend of decline and are projected to achieve an impressive annual growth of 30~40%, totaling over 10 million units.