Currently, NAND flash suppliers are conservative on market demand and capex figures for 2013, relying instead on technology migration to increase bit output, strengthening cost competitiveness to reduce losses due to price decline. TrendForce forecasts NAND flash market bit supply will increase from 14,858 M 16Gb equiv. in 2012 to 20,960 M 16Gb equiv. in 2013, a 41.1% YoY increase...
Looking at the global mobile DRAM market in the third quarter of 2012, with the decline of the PC industry, global DRAM industry revenue fell by 8.5% in the third quarter of 2012. Regardless, top-tier memory makers continue expanding in the mobile DRAM sector, and mobile DRAM output is expected to account for 21% of total DRAM production this year, and 26% in 2013. As for price, the mobile DRAM contract price decline eased to a 5% drop this quarter, a significant improvement over the average decrease of 10-15% in the first half of the year. As mobile DRAM output continues to increase, revenue has seen 15.4% growth since the previous quarter...
Apple and Samsung products continue to dominate the high-end market. Together, the manufacturers’ devices are expected to account for 50% of global smartphone shipments, at 330M units, in 2012. Apple’s iPhone has yet to fail since its introduction years ago, continuing to dominate the smartphone industry in terms of both brand image and profit margins. Samsung’s smartphone supply chain is vertically integrated, from the core SoC to other components like memory, display, and battery. Not only does vertical integration give Samsung a cost advantage when it comes to smartphone production, but it also provides an outlet for Samsung Semiconductor components...