NAND flash prices could drop up to 20% in Q4

Most manufacturers of NAND flash tin expect to spot their products transverse into nonaccomplishment territory earlier nan extremity of this year, according to researchers astatine TrendForce.

The consequence will apt culminate successful a 15 to 20 percent trim successful pricing during Q4 of 2022, it predicts.

One of nan astir pressing reasons is that NAND flash is presently oversupplied, TrendForce said successful its latest report, aliases to put it different way, location is now an overmatch of proviso to demand. While this mightiness beryllium bully news for buyers correct now, it intends suppliers are apt to soon trim accumulation arsenic a measurement to limit their losses, which will yet nonstop prices backmost up again.

Coupled pinch oversupply, wide request is falling away. PC makers are besides presently pessimistic regarding nan level of request adjacent twelvemonth and respect reducing inventory of customer SSDs arsenic a apical priority, according to nan aforesaid research.

However, nan image is mixed pinch respect to endeavor SSDs: acquisition measurement has besides declined successful this conception owed to nan anticipation that server shipments are group to autumn successful 4Q22, but manufacturers are eager to grow income of endeavor SSDs, Trendforce claims.

US manufacturers began providing 176-layer products to clinch marketplace stock and Solidigm released an endeavor SSD built pinch SK hynix 128-layer silicon for customer verification. At nan aforesaid time, Kioxia is partnering pinch North American unreality work providers for PCIe 4.0 SSD.

Price title among suppliers is bound to intensify arsenic much products participate nan market, and truthful TrendForce predicts 15-20 percent autumn successful pricing during 4Q22 crossed some customer and endeavor SSDs.

In different sectors, TrendForce said that sluggish request for chromebooks and TVs is hitting eMMC flash products, and that inventory unit forced manufacturers to connection little prices successful 3Q22 for fixed-volume income up to nan extremity of nan year. It estimates eMMC prices will autumn by astir 13-18 percent successful 4Q22.

A akin business is unfolding for Universal Flash Storage (UFS), nan main exertion of which is nan smartphone market. Traditional highest play income of smartphones person fallen short of past performance, it claims, and truthful makers are stuck pinch high inventory levels of some devices and components, and their desire to bargain UFS has truthful decreased.

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There is almost pessimism astir request adjacent year, and flash manufacturers look group to intensify value incentives to stimulate stocking momentum, which is predicted to construe into value drops of 13-18 percent, pinch further cuts a possibility.

As for NAND flash wafers, nan marketplace business is likewise gloomy, nan TrendForce study states. Demand is stagnant for products specified arsenic SSDs, representation cards, and drives astatine nan unit extremity arsenic consumers person begun to rein successful spending.

However, TrendForce claims that manufacturers person continued to summation wafer proviso and nan gait of migration to a greater number of layers has besides continued. Since a downward inclination successful pricing is inevitable, it believes manufacturers will beryllium forced to accelerate process migration to optimize costs structure.

Manufacturers person been slashing prices complete nan past quarter, resulting successful wafer statement pricing approaching nan mill cost. TrendForce said it expects to spot suppliers accelerate value drops, pinch NAND Flash wafer pricing successful 4Q22 estimated to autumn 20-25 percent versus nan erstwhile quarter. ®