DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, has released the latest market share report for NAND Flash suppliers during Q3 2018.
Contract prices of NAND Flash products fell 10-15 percent in Q3 due to oversupply of the bit output from the NAND Flash industry since the start of 2018. The report said suppliers raised the yields of their 64/72-layer 3D NAND production.
The shortage of Intel CPUs and the lower sales of new iPhone devices have respectively stifled the demand growths related to notebook PCs and smartphones.
“The market for NAND Flash is expected to remain in oversupply during 4Q18, with steeper price decline for various NAND Flash products,” says DRAMeXchange analyst Ben Yeh. Price competition is intensifying in the markets for Enterprise SSDs and NAND Flash wafers. NAND Flash suppliers are concentrating on Enterprise SSD market to retain gross margins and on wafer market for greater digestion of inventories.
Samsung
Samsung’s NAND Flash revenue rose 2.1 percent quarter on quarter to $6.05 billion in Q3. Samsung achieved quarter on quarter growth of more than 20 percent in bit shipments due to its dominance as the supplier of NAND Flash for flagship smartphones. It recorded increase in shipments of its SSDs for PCs and servers.
Samsung’s ASP fell 15 percent quarter on quarter due to falling prices across the market.
SK Hynix
SK Hynix’s NAND Flash revenue grew 6 percent to $1.83 billion – driven by the seasonal growth in smartphone shipments and the steady growth of its SSD sales. SK Hynix’s bit shipments rose 19 percent. SSDs accounted for more than 20 percent of SK Hynix’s total bit shipments. SK Hynix posted 10 percent decline in its ASP.
Toshiba
Toshiba’s third quarter revenue has increased 1.9 percent to $3.2 billion. Toshiba’s bit shipments increased 20 percent plus due to the demand growth resulting from the traditional busy season and new iPhone devices. Toshiba’s ASP dropped 15 percent.
Western Digital
Western Digital reported 7 percent increase in revenue to $2.534 billion. Western Digital increased its bit shipments by 28 percent – driven by the supplier’s presence in the retail and channel market as well as the strong sales of its SSDs. Western Digital’s ASP fell 16 percent because of the general price slump for NAND Flash products.
Western Digital will be limiting its CAPEX for 2019 and will scale back its future capacity expansion efforts.
Micron
Micron posted 14.7 percent increase in revenue to $2.23 billion. Micron’s bit shipments rose 25 percent due to smartphone market and the increase in the sales of its SSDs. Micron’s ASP fell nearly 15 percent. To improve its cost structure, Micron has been decreasing the shipment share of products for the channel market. The company’s primary aim in the SSD market is to release products featuring both the NVMe interface and QLC NAND Flash to meet demand for high-density storage.
