Concerns over a potential HBM oversupply in 2025 have been growing in the market. TrendForce’s Senior Vice President of Research, Avril Wu, reports that it remains uncertain whether manufacturers will be able to ramp up HBM3e production as planned next year. Additionally, the steep learning curve for achieving stable yields in HBM3e 12-Hi production makes it difficult to determine if a capacity surplus will occur.
TCL Group officially announced on September 26th its plans to acquire 80% equity in LG Display’s 8.5-generation LCD panel plant in Guangzhou (including 10% previously held by Shenzhen Skyworth) and 100% equity of the module factory through its subsidiary, CSOT. The acquisition—with a base price of CNY 10.8 billion—includes the transfer of the necessary technology and support services to operate both facilities.
Meta has just unveiled its first-ever full-color AR glasses, Orion, at Meta Connect 2024. These innovative glasses utilize LEDoS (silicon-based Micro LED) technology and are impressively lightweight at just 98 grams. TrendForce’s recent analysis indicates that 2024 is set to be a crucial year for leading brands venturing into the near-eye display market within the metaverse. Nevertheless, Meta’s AR glasses are still struggling to achieve an optimal balance between FOV and resolution, as well as developing a more robust application ecosystem. It’s predicted that these devices may not be commercially available until after 2027.
TrendForce’s latest reports reveal that the launch of NVIDIA’s Blackwell platform, expected in 4Q24, is set to significantly drive the adoption of liquid cooling solutions. Liquid cooling penetration is projected to grow from around 10% in 2024 to over 20% in 2025. This shift will be driven by rising global ESG awareness and the accelerated deployment of AI servers by CSPs, prompting a shift from air cooling to liquid cooling systems.
TrendForce posits that the wafer foundry market is expected to see a recovery in 2025, with an estimated annual growth of 20%—up from 16% in 2024. This positive outlook comes despite the weak end-market demand for consumer products, which has led component manufacturers to adopt a conservative stocking strategy and made the average capacity utilization rate of wafer foundries fall below 80% in 2024. Only advanced processes, such as 5/4/3nm nodes used for HPC products and flagship smartphones, have managed to maintain full capacity, and this situation is expected to persist into 2025. However, the visibility in the consumer end market remains low for 2025.