Micron Technology and Intel will discontinue their partnership on NAND Flash development after completing the development of their third generation of 3D-NAND Flash (96-layer), according to their announcements on January 8, 2018. The two will part ways in developing NAND Flash technology due to their individual business needs, but will continue to jointly develop and manufacture 3D XPoint at their fab in Lehi, Utah. DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, points out that 96-layer 3D-NAND Flash will not become the mainstream products until 2019, so this decision of parting ways will not influence their product roadmaps until 2020.
LEDinside, a division of TrendForce, reports that the prices of mainstream LED package products in China's market were generally stable in December 2017. In both high-power and mid-power segments, prices witnessed no obvious fluctuation, but the prices of LED package products are expected to go down in 1Q18.
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.
