This year, numerous sections of the IT supply chain including IC, IP development, EDA and OS have rolled out next-generation products and platforms for applications related to artificial intelligence (AI). According to market intelligence firm TrendForce, AI will create new market opportunities as well as upgrading the fabrication process for semiconductor manufacturers. With AI becoming a major growth contributor, TrendForce forecasts that the global revenue from semiconductor chip sales will grow at a CAGR of 3.1% from 2018 to 2022.
DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports that the global sales revenue of DRAM modules for 2016 totaled US$6.9 billion, amounting to a decline of about 12% compared with the result of the previous year. The depressed PC DRAM prices during the first half of 2016 and the continuing contraction of the DIY market were the main factors behind the revenue drop.
The share of In-Cell solutions in the global smartphone market is estimated to reach 31.9% by the end of 2017, according to the latest research on touch display solutions by WitsView, a division of TrendForce. This latest share figure for In-Cell solutions, which is an upward revision from the earlier projection of 29.6%, is mainly attributed to the near maturation of IC products for TDDI (Touch with Display Driver Integration) as well as their rapid adoption in the panel industry.
DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports that the global mobile DRAM market experienced some recovery during the second quarter, though smartphone sales remained sluggish. Smartphone brands had lowered their annual production volume targets in the first quarter and in turn faced inventory pileup for memory components. However, the situation later improved in the second quarter and stock-up demand returned.
DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, reports that the NAND Flash market continued to experience tight supply in the second quarter. As a result, contract prices of various lines of NAND Flash products rose by 3% to 10% from the first quarter despite the seasonal headwinds. Going forward, NAND Flash suppliers are expected to post excellent revenue results in the third quarter due to small increases in contract prices of mobile products (i.e. eMMC and UFS) and SSDs. On the whole, 2017 will be a bumper year for the industry.