The global economic deceleration is taking its toll on the tech sector’s growth, with heavyweights like Intel and Texas Instruments signaling a downturn in their recent financial forecasts. This trend reflects a broader industry pattern of subdued order placements and shipments. TrendForce reports that the first quarter of 2024 will see a 7% quarterly reduction in MLCC shipments to 1.1103 trillion units.
The server sector is expected to see the most significant growth, with content per box for server DRAM projected to rise by 17.3% annually, while enterprise SSDs are forecast to increase by 13.2%. The market penetration rate for AI smartphones and AI PCs is expected to experience noticeable growth in 2025 and is anticipated to further drive the average content per box upward.
Intel and UMC officially announced their landmark collaboration on January 25, 2024, geared toward developing the 12-nanometer process. TrendForce believes that this partnership, which leverages UMC’s diversified technological services and Intel’s existing factory facilities for joint operation, not only aids Intel in transitioning from an IDM to a foundry business model but also brings a wealth of operational experience and enhances manufacturing flexibility.
TrendForce’s latest analysis reveals that the downswing of DRAM contract prices, which had lasted for eight consecutive quarters since 4Q21, was finally reversed in 4Q23. Likewise, NAND Flash rebounded in 3Q23 after four quarters of decline. The persistence of this rally in memory prices during 2024 will largely hinge on suppliers’ ongoing and effective control over their capacity utilization rates.
TrendForce anticipates 2024 to mark a significant expansion in edge AI applications, leveraging the groundwork laid by AI servers and branching into AI PCs and other terminal devices. The global AI server market—encompassing AI Training and AI Inference—is projected to exceed 1.6 million units, growing at an impressive rate of 40%. Additionally, CSPs are expected to ramp up their involvement in this sector.