DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) expects selling prices this quarter to edge downward by a single-digit percentage or remain flat from last quarter as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s COVID-19 lockdowns add to market uncertainty and dim business prospects.
As Russia’s war against Ukraine prompted raw material costs and shipping fees to surge, and concern has grown over rising inflation, placing a dent in consumer demand for electronics such as TVs, Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told an online media briefing yesterday.
“On the demand side, smartphone demand did slow a bit. Consumer notebook computers were also affected. High inflation and weaker consumer spending were likely the reasons. Seasonal factors were also behind the slowdown,” Lee said.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
Demand for DRAM chips used in cloud-based servers, commercial laptops and gaming computers remains solid, he said.
“From prices in April, it looks like any price decline in the second quarter will be smaller, or even flat, compared with the first quarter,” Lee said. “But, there is a lot of uncertainty. We need to look at the market situation month by month for the rest of the quarter.”
Overall, DRAM prices this quarter are likely to dip by a low single-digit percentage on a quarterly basis, or remain unchanged, after a 5 percent decline in DRAM prices in the first quarter, Lee said.
Before the war, Nanya Technology expected a robust rebound in prices and estimated that DRAM prices would begin to climb in the second quarter.
However, the firm’s shipments in this quarter are likely to resemble the first quarter’s, Lee said yesterday.
The war in Ukraine has not had a significant effect on the company’s chip shipments due to its small exposure to Russia and Ukraine, Nanya Technology said, adding that it suspended shipments to Russia after it invaded its neighbor on Feb. 24.
The lockdown in Shanghai is bringing challenges to the whole supply chain, as customers try to find solutions to transport restrictions in China, Lee said, adding that the lockdown has made it difficult to transport goods in and out of the city.
Lee added that some customers had said that the curbs could remain in place until Monday next week in some districts of Shanghai.
Some customers have destined deliveries to Chongqing, a manufacturing hub for notebook computer makers, or even to Thailand, he said.
Nanya Technology yesterday posted NT$6.55 billion (US$225.47 million) in net profit for last quarter, up 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter from NT$6.45 billion. That represented annual growth of 142 percent from NT$2.7 billion.
Earnings per share last quarter rose to NT$2.11 from NT$2.08 a quarter earlier and NT$0.88 a year earlier, while gross margin fell for a third straight quarter to 31.4 percent from 37.5 percent in the first quarter.
Construction of a 12-inch fab is to be postponed by two to three quarters due to red tape, Nanya Technology said, adding that the fab would likely begin mass production in 2025, not 2024.
The firm has this year budgeted NT$28.4 billion in capital spending to fund construction and expand capacity, and manufacture its first 10-nanometer class of chips — “10-nanometer class” includes using 10-nanometer to 20-nanometer advance process technologies.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has secured three construction permits for its plan to build a state-of-the-art A14 wafer fab in Taichung, and is likely to start construction soon, the Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, Wang Chun-chieh (王俊傑), deputy director general of the science park bureau, said the world’s largest contract chipmaker has received three construction permits — one to build a fab to roll out sophisticated chips, another to build a central utility plant to provide water and electricity for the facility and the other to build three office buildings. With the three permits, TSMC
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
RSS