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TrendForce has revised its 2025 DRAM price forecast downward, projecting price declines in the first half of next year, with DDR4 and LPDDR4X experiencing steeper drops. Key factors contributing to this revision include: a weakening NAND Flash market leading to capacity shift towards DRAM; potential underutilization of HBM capacity by some DRAM suppliers, resulting in TSV capacity shifting back to conventional DRAM; China's DRAM capacity expansion; and sluggish consumer electronics demand. TrendForce believes that without DRAM capacity reduction, inventory digestion will be slow, and the price outlook for the second half of 2025 remains pessimistic.
TrendForce indicates that SK hynix has launched the industry's first HBM3e 16hi product, boosting maximum bit capacity to 384GB. This move aims to address the demand for higher-capacity HBM. Compared to HBM4, HBM3e 16hi offers lower I/O and smaller die size, facilitating easier mass production. Leveraging its MR-MUF process advantage, SK hynix's early release of the 16hi product strengthens its leading position in the HBM market and allows it to accumulate valuable experience in 16hi mass production, accelerating the development of HBM4 16hi.
TrendForce indicates that the US is reportedly tightening scrutiny on Chinese customers' use of advanced AI chip manufacturing technologies, potentially impacting TSMC's ≤7nm advanced node sales performance. TSMC's 7nm and below nodes primarily serve customers from the US, Europe, and Taiwan, so the short-term impact on capacity utilization is limited. However, Chinese customers account for 5-10% of total revenue, and in the worst-case scenario, the revenue impact is projected to be of the same scale in 2025. Since Chinese customers previously assisted TSMC with advanced node testing and yield improvement, this move may pose challenges to the mass production of TSMC's 2nm and more advanced nodes, with long-term implications warranting attention.
TrendForce indicates that the US is reportedly tightening scrutiny on Chinese customers' use of advanced AI chip manufacturing technologies, potentially impacting TSMC's ≤7nm advanced node sales performance. TSMC's 7nm and below nodes primarily serve customers from the US, Europe, and Taiwan, so the short-term impact on capacity utilization is limited. However, Chinese customers account for 5-10% of total revenue, and in the worst-case scenario, the revenue impact is projected to be of the same scale in 2025. Since Chinese customers previously assisted TSMC with advanced node testing and yield improvement, this move may pose challenges to the mass production of TSMC's 2nm and more advanced nodes, with long-term implications warranting attention.
TrendForce indicates that NVIDIA will adopt the SO-CAMM module design in its GB300 AI servers, replacing the initial onboard LPDDR5X solution for Grace CPUs. SO-CAMM offers advantages such as easy replacement and low power consumption, and it is expected to become the mainstream memory solution for NVIDIA's AI server CPUs. Module house Kingston, in addition to the three major suppliers, will also join in on the array of provision. The demand for mobile DRAM will grow rapidly with the climbing needs of AI servers, with related demand bits projected to increase by over 400% YoY in 2025.
TrendForce forecasts a 25% YoY growth in DRAM bit output in 2025, with diverging market conditions across different product types and applications. HBM demand remains strong, leading to tight supply; DDR5 and LPDDR5X show a relatively healthy supply-demand balance; while DDR4 and LPDDR4X face oversupply pressure and increased risk of price declines. Chinese suppliers' capacity expansion primarily impacts the domestic market, with limited impact on the global market. DRAM suppliers need to carefully plan capacity and optimize product mix to ensure profitability.
TrendForce forecasts that shipments of liquid cooling solutions will surge with the launch of NVIDIA's Blackwell and B300 series AI servers. The GB200 NVL72 is expected to adopt a liquid-to-air (L2A) cooling solution in 2025, with GB Rack AI servers projected to account for 41% of NVIDIA's AI server shipments, becoming a primary driver of the AI liquid cooling market. Taiwanese cooling suppliers such as Auras and AVC are actively expanding capacity to meet customer demand.
The report provides an in-depth exploration of the applications and growing demand for ABF substrates in AI servers, autonomous vehicles, and high-performance computing (HPC). Furthermore, it provides an analysis of the activities and future development trends of major Taiwanese manufacturers, with a focus on strong, sustained market growth beyond 2025.
TrendForce's report reveals that global channel market client SSD shipments grew by 3.7% YoY in 2023, driven by post-pandemic replacement demand and pre-emptive stocking in anticipation of NAND Flash price hikes. Kingston retained its top position with strong channel and brand advantages, followed by ADATA and Lexar. Despite a decrease in the number of Chinese brands, localization policies and national sentiment will enhance their future competitiveness. Future channel market SSD demand will focus on capacity expansion and performance upgrades, posing challenges to vendors as sales volumes decline.
TrendForce forecasts that global mature node capacity will grow by 6% YoY in 2025, with approximately 70% of the increase coming from Chinese foundries. Despite slow recovery in end-market demand, Chinese foundries are aggressively expanding capacity, intensifying market competition. Mature node utilization rates are projected to rise modestly to 75-80% in 2025, but upward price momentum will be limited. Chinese foundries' pricing strategies will impact the global market. Geopolitical factors are also driving foundries to diversify capacity deployments globally to ensure supply chain security.
