Adata Technology Co (威剛科技), the world’s second-largest memory module supplier, expects DRAM contract prices to rebound in the next two months, thanks to seasonal demand for memory chips used in smartphones and data centers.
Coupled with improving demand for NAND flash memory chips, that should help Adata ride through the worst period in terms of profitability, the company said on Thursday.
DRAM products contributed 49 percent to the company’s revenue of NT$14.04 billion (US$447 million) in the first seven months of this year, while NAND flash memory chips and solid-state drive storage accounted for 51 percent, the company said.
“Adata’s operation hit the trough in the second quarter. Revenue should pick up month-on-month in the third quarter,” Adata chairman Simon Chen (陳立白) told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference to unveil its strategic business partnership with Seoul-based Lotte Foods Co.
Due to the weakness in DRAM prices, the company reported operating losses of NT$199 million in the second quarter, compared with losses of NT$196 million in the same quarter a year ago.
The company expects DRAM contract prices to rise next month and in October, driven by improving demand for chips used in smartphones ahead of new model launches and the Christmas shopping season, Chen said.
Demand for memory chips used in data centers is also expected to pick up in October and November, as data center operators plan to ship as many products as possible before a 10 percent tariff on US$300 billion of Chinese imports take effect in December, he said.
The rise in DRAM contract prices is expected to trigger a price hike in the spot market in October, Chen said.
DRAM spot prices have seen a short-term correction lately, after a 40 percent surge in the first half of the year, he said.
Adata’s forecast is relatively optimistic compared with market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技), which expects DRAM prices to continue a downtrend given high inventories.
Mainstream PC DRAM prices dropped another 10 percent last month, after plunging 30 percent sequentially in the second quarter, the market researcher said.
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s biggest DRAM maker, also expects DRAM prices to continue falling this quarter, albeit at a slower pace, as a seasonal rebound in end-market demand for computers, mobile phones, consumer electronics and servers should help underpin DRAM shipments.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
RSS