industry
Entered 2024.04.04 18:57 Modified 2024.04.04 18:57 Land A11
Possibility of rapid increase due to reduced supply
Pay close attention to Samsung, SK, Micron, etc.
TSMC’s ‘foundry’ also suffered some damage
DRAM companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron are known to have temporarily suspended supply negotiations with customers following the Taiwan earthquake. This is because the price is likely to rise due to production disruptions at Micron, which manufactures most of the cutting-edge DRAM in Taiwan. There are also predictions that the DRAM price increase rate in the second quarter, which is expected to be ‘single digits’, will rise to ‘greater than 10%.
According to market research firm DRAM Exchange on the 4th, DRAM spot prices (as of morning) rose slightly on the 3rd. The price of the high-capacity product ‘Double Data Rate (DDR) 4 16 Gigabit (Gb)’ increased by 0.42% compared to the previous day, and the price of the latest product, DDR5 16Gb, increased by 0.17%. These DRAM spot prices showed a downward curve from the beginning of last month until the 2nd of this month. DRAM spot prices are transaction prices formed temporarily through distribution agencies, etc., and are sensitive to market sentiment. The rebound in spot prices is being analyzed as a result of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Taiwan on the 3rd. This is because the possibility of a drop in supply has increased because Micron, the world’s third largest DRAM company, has temporarily suspended operations at its Taichung plant in Taiwan. Accordingly, major DRAM companies are reported to have temporarily suspended supply negotiations to raise unit prices. Trend Force, a market research company, said, “Micron has suspended discussions on the fixed transaction price for the second quarter and is analyzing its loss situation,” and added, “Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have also decided to monitor the direction of the market. “
There are also predictions that the Taiwan earthquake will be a catalyst for DRAM price increases in the second quarter. Peter Lee, a semiconductor analyst at global securities firm Citi, analyzed, “DRAM prices will rise by double digits compared to the first quarter.”
Meanwhile, TSMC, a Taiwanese foundry company (semiconductor batch production), announced regarding the status of the damage, “More than 70% of the factory equipment was restored within 10 hours of the earthquake.” However, given that the operation of the cutting-edge 3-nanometer Fab 18 line (nm·1nm=1 billionth of a meter) in Tainan, southern Taiwan, has been temporarily suspended, some are predicting supply disruptions. There is also analysis that this will be an opportunity for large foundry companies such as NVIDIA to reduce their dependence on TSMC and increase their share of Samsung Electronics.
Correspondent Hwang Jeong-su hjs@hankyung.com
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