The nation’s major suppliers of memory chips and modules saw their stock prices climb by up to 9.97 percent yesterday amid speculation that Samsung Electronics Co plans to raise mobile DRAM prices by about 10 percent on the back of increasing supply constraints.
Adata Technology Co (威剛科技), the world’s second-largest memory module supplier, outperformed its peers as its shares skyrocketed near the 10 percent daily limit to NT$86, or up 9.97 percent.
The performance marked its highest level in more than three-and-a-half years.
Turnover set an all-time high, with 40 million shares changing hands, Taipei Exchange statistics showed.
The company on Friday said that the supply crunch in DRAM chips next quarter might exceed its expectations as increasing demand for smartphones and cloud-enabled servers is squeezing DRAM chip supply.
That would pave the way for another round of price hikes through early next year, it said.
On the demand side, Chinese mobile phone vendors Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀移動) and Vivo Communication Technology Co Ltd (維沃移動通信) are snatching up memory chips in preparation for product launches next quarter, the Economic Daily News reported yesterday.
The increased buying is adding pressure to the already short supply, it added.
As its supply cannot keep pace with demand, Samsung informed original equipment manufacturers early this quarter that prices for DRAM chips would increase about 10 to 15 percent sequentially, the report said.
DRAM prices have been spiraling upward since the second half of last year, as the world’s top three memory chip makers keep a tight rein on capacity expansion, it said.
Samsung, SK Hynix Inc and Micron Technology Inc are expanding DRAM capacities by migrating to next-generation technologies, while investing heavily in boosting flash memorychip capacities, the report said.
The news also helped boost shares of the nation’s major DRAM chip suppliers, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子), which surged 5.7 percent and 7.14 percent to NT$79.8 and NT$27 respectively.
The rally helped push the TAIEX to a 27-year high at 10,631.57 yesterday.
To cope with rising demand, Winbond said it plans to invest NT$335 billion (US$11.13 billion) to build a plant, but it has not yet disclosed a time table for construction.
Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said that short supply of DRAM chips would continue through this year as global supply is to grow at a slower annual pace of 19.5 percent, compared with 25 percent annual growth in previous years.
However, market demand is growing much faster at 22 percent annually or more, it said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
STABLE RESULTS: Despite June’s lower consolidated revenue, second-quarter sales still reached a record high, driven by demand for chips for AI applications Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$263.71 billion (US$9.02 billion) for last month, its second-lowest monthly result this year. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that its revenue last month only fared better than the NT$260.01 billion posted in February. Last month’s figure rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier, but slumped 17.7 percent from May, the company said. However, second-quarter revenue reached NT$933.8 billion, a record high for a single quarter, company data showed. The figure represented growth of 11.26 percent from the first quarter and 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Previously, TSMC said that
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