Huawei’s subsidiary HiSilicon has made significant strides in the independent R&D of AI chips, launching the next-gen Ascend 910B. These chips are utilized not only in Huawei's public cloud infrastructure but also sold to other Chinese companies.
Overall, while enterprise SSD contract prices continued their downward trajectory in Q3, a surge in global purchasing demand by 10% has elevated its revenue to US$1.56 billion, marking a 4.2% QoQ increase.
TrendForce reports that smartphone production—fueled by reduced channel inventories and spikes in seasonal demand—saw a significant uptick in 3Q23. Global smartphone production in the third quarter reached approximately 308 million units, marking a 13% QoQ increase. Although this figure has yet to reach pre-pandemic levels, it represents a 6.4% YoY increase, effectively ending an eight-quarter streak of annual declines.
TrendForce’s research indicates a dynamic third quarter for the global foundry industry, marked by an uptick in urgent orders for smartphone and notebook components. This surge was fueled by healthy inventory levels and the release of new iPhone and Android devices in 2H23. Despite persisting inflation risks and market uncertainties, these orders were predominantly executed as rush orders. Additionally, TSMC and Samsung’s high-cost 3nm manufacturing process had a positive impact on revenues, driving the 3Q23 value of the top ten global foundries to approximately US$28.29 billion—a 7.9% QoQ increase.
TrendForce reports a pivotal shift in the NAND Flash market for 3Q23, primarily driven by Samsung’s strategic decision to reduce production. Initially, the market was clouded by uncertainty regarding end-user demand and fears of a subdued peak season, prompting buyers to adopt a conservative approach with low inventory and slow procurement.
