TrendForce’s latest industry report on AI servers reveals that high demand for advanced AI servers from major CSPs and brand clients is expected to continue in 2024. Meanwhile, TSMC, SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron’s gradual production expansion has significantly eased shortages in 2Q24. Consequently, the lead time for NVIDIA’s flagship H100 solution has decreased from the previous 40–50 weeks to less than 16 weeks.
The AI hardware boom is in full swing: TrendForce reports that the first half of this year witnessed a robust increase in AI server orders. Looking ahead, the latter half of the year promises more to come as NVIDIA’s Blackwell GB200 servers and WoA AI-powered notebooks hit mass production and begin shipping in Q3. This surge is driving ODMs to ramp up their inventory procurement and setting the stage for a spike in orders and shipments of high-capacitance MLCCs. The outcome is a welcome stabilization of market prices and a notable uptick in ASP for suppliers.
In 2016, TSMC developed and named its InFO FOWLP technology, and applied it to the A10 processor used in the iPhone 7. TrendForce points out that since then, OSAT providers have been striving to develop FOWLP and FOPLP technologies to offer more cost-effective packaging solutions.
TrendForce reveals that although the overall environment this year has been impacted by AI budget constraints—leading to slower-than-expected growth for general—recent procurement strength for related components such as BMCs and new CPUs indicates an improving trend for new server platforms among OEMs and CSPs. Additionally, surveys of ODM supply chains reveal that server shipments, after a seasonal dip in the first quarter, are expected to show sequential growth in the second and third quarters.
TrendForce reports that while the enterprise sector continues to invest in server infrastructure—especially with the rising adoption of AI driving demand for enterprise SSDs—the consumer electronics market remains lackluster. This, combined with NAND suppliers aggressively ramping up production in the second half of the year, is expected to push the NAND Flash sufficiency ratio up to 2.3% in the third quarter, curbing the blended price hike to a modest 5–10%.