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TrendForce reveals that global shipments of VR devices reached 3.7 million units in 2017. In terms of shipments ranking, Sony took first place, followed by Oculus Rift in second and HTC Vive in third. As for 2018, TrendForce estimates that the shipments will come to 5 million units.
On 22 December 2017, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) held a meeting with representatives from Samsung to express concerns about Samsung’s role in the continuing price increase for memory products. Based on the latest findings, DRAMeXchange of TrendForce believes that this event could affect memory prices in 1Q18. At present, contract negotiations are ongoing in both DRAM and NAND Flash markets. If Samsung and other suppliers take heed of NDRC’s opinion, then the price upswing, especially in the mobile DRAM market, will likely to moderate.
The demand for xEV battery sees significant growth in 2017 due to the development of new energy vehicles, resulting in a 114% price surge for cobalt. In order to ease the cost pressure, battery makers are looking for ways to decrease the amount of cobalt used in xEV battery manufacturing. EnergyTrend, a division of TrendForce, forecasts that xEV battery with lower ratio of cobalt will be the mainstream product in 2018, easing the tight supply of cobalt.
LCD panel market is expecting several new large generation fabs in 2018. BOE has launched the world’s first Gen 10.5 fab, while CEC-CHOT’s Gen 8.6 fab and Gen 8.6+ fab of CEC-Panda Chengdu will also go into operation this year. According to WitsView, a division of TrendForce, LCD panel prices are expected to drop by 20-40% in 2018 compared with 2017, pushing up demands for TV panels. Therefore, the supply and demand will achieve a balance in 2018, with possibility of oversupply in 2019.
Toshiba and Western Digital have reached an agreement on December 13th, 2017, after lawsuits and disputes over joint venture throughout the past year. The two companies have extended existing joint-venture agreement to 2029, which confirms that Western Digital will jointly invest in Fab 6 facility at Yokkaichi to secure its competitiveness in 3D-NAND Flash with 96-layer or greater. Soon after the agreement, Toshiba announced its Fab 7 construction plan on December 21st. According to DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, the production capacity expansion of major NAND Flash manufacturers, e.g. Toshiba, Samsung, Intel, and Yangtze Memory Technologies Corporation (YMTC), will have increasing impacts on the industry, resulting in a possible oversupply in NAND Flash market in 2019.
