The NAND flash memory market was unable to overcome weak demand in the second quarter, which continues to lag behind supply. However, shipment volumes rose 19.9% compared to the previous three months, and manufacturers’ revenue rose 7.4% sequentially to $9.338 billion, analysts calculated TrendForce.
Image source: skhynix.com
Samsung started reducing production volumes in the second quarter and will continue to do so in the current quarter. Inventories will fall and price increases are already on the horizon, which will help address the chronic supply-demand imbalance. However, it is possible that some suppliers will continue their aggressive sales in the third quarter given excess inventory. The average selling price (ASP) of NAND flash memory products will slow the decline to 5% to 10%. Delivery volumes will grow and manufacturers’ sales will increase by more than 3% in the third quarter.
Last quarter was a record quarter for Micron – the company reported 27.6% growth and earned $1.21 billion. This was made possible by a reduction in inventories in the PC and mobile device markets, as well as an increase in the average capacity of consumer SSDs – Micron managed to set a record for shipment volume in memory bits per quarter. Most players in the industry are cutting production, but in the case of the American manufacturer there is a more balanced picture of supply and demand.
Image source: trendforce.com
SK Group (SK hynix and Solidigm) and Western Digital were able to benefit from the reduction in SSD inventories and the increase in storage capacity in consumer electronics – both companies increased bit shipments and thus also sales in the second quarter. At the same time, SK Group recorded quarterly growth of 26.6% and Western Digital recorded growth of 5.4%.
Samsung and Kioxia were the only major players in the industry whose sales fell. What worked against them was the fact that, given the growing demand for servers for artificial intelligence systems, general-purpose servers still have the largest impact on the demand for NAND flash memory, and therefore no income from the sale of NAND components was received from AI boom affected. As a result, Samsung’s revenue fell 1% to $29 billion and Kioxia’s revenue fell 1.3% to $18.3 billion.
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