Affected by intensified competition and increased financial pressures, the renowned US-based SSD company, OCZ Technology, declared bankruptcy on 11/27 and announced its plans to sell assets to the Japanese NAND Flash manufacturer, Toshiba. The acquisition proposal has officially been approved by US courts, and for now, OCZ’s operations remain unchanged. As the merger begins to take place, more and more changes are expected to emerge in the SSD industry.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the price movements in the NAND Flash market are expected to remain steady thanks to the industry’s stable supply and demand. With the end-demand momentum being certain, TrendForce projects that the total NAND Flash market value will grow by 13.3% YoY to US$ 28 billion. This would mark the second straight year during which the NAND Flash market displayed positive, double digit growth.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, eMMC 4.5 has replaced eMMC 4.41 on a massive scale since 2H13, becoming the main storage format used in smartphones and tablet PCs.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the upcoming off peak quarter and underwhelming worldwide demand have made manufacturers relatively unwilling to agree on the 1H'Nov contract prices. Due to the persistence of such a situation, along with SK Hynix's strategic decision to lock its Q4 prices, the contract prices have remained mostly flat. The 4GB average prices stayed relatively unchanged at US $32, whereas the 2GB prices remained at US$17.75.
According to DRAMeXchange, a research division of TrendForce, the 1H’Nov. NAND Flash contract prices have dropped 5%-7% compared to 2H’Oct. This is mainly due to the weaker than expected demand for NAND Flash products during the traditional peak-fourth quarter as well as the manufacturers’ high inventory levels, which reduced the overall willingness to purchase new components.
