TrendForce’s latest MLCC investigation reveals growing macroeconomic headwinds. The U.S. ADP September Employment Report recorded its largest decline in two and a half years, while the Federal Reserve was left without key data for policy decisions due to the government shutdown.
TrendForce’s latest investigations have revealed that wafer foundry utilization during the second half of 2025 has remained more resilient than anticipated. Several factors are contributing to this, including the postponed U.S. semiconductor tariffs, low inventory at IC vendors, the peak smartphone season, and ongoing high demand for AI. These conditions have prevented the expected decline in capacity utilization.
TrendForce’s latest investigations reveal that the surge in AI inference applications is creating a strong need for real-time data access and rapid processing of large data sets. As such, both HDD and SSD suppliers are expanding their high-capacity storage options. Due to a notable supply shortage in the HDD market, NAND Flash vendors are fast-tracking their technological advancements and increasing production of ultra-high-capacity nearline SSDs, including 122TB and 245TB models, which helps mitigate previous concerns about long-term demand.
TrendForce’s latest investigations reveal that the rapid expansion of AI server demand is propelling global cloud service providers (CSPs), such as Google, AWS, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, Tencent, Alibaba, and Baidu, to boost investments in NVIDIA’s rack-scale GPU solutions, data center expansion, and in-house AI ASIC design. Total CapEx from the eight major CSPs is expected to surpass US$420 billion in 2025, roughly equivalent to their combined spending in 2023 and 2024, marking a 61% YoY increase.
TrendForce reports that following the completion of inventory digestion in the downstream consumer market concluded at the end of Q4 2023, DRAM suppliers shifted focus towards HBM and server DDR5 products, leading to tighter supply for other DRAM types. This increase in demand pushed overall DRAM prices higher, encouraging module manufacturers to replenish stocks and boost procurement. Consequently, the global DRAM module market achieved USD 13.3 billion in revenue in 2024, a 7% YoY increase that reversed the 28% decline experienced in 2023.