1. Samsung to Increase NAND Wafer Prices
According to industry insiders, Samsung Electronics has notified module customers to increase the official quotation for NAND wafers. In addition, if demand in the consumer electronics market improves in the second half of the year, NAND wafer contract prices are expected to stabilize.
Samsung and SK Hynix have been seeking to increase the price of NAND flash memory by 3% -5%, and said that the price of NAND flash memory has fallen below the variable cost, and the price of some brands of SSD has approached the price of HDD.
According to the TrendForce survey report this week, after significant production cuts by manufacturers in the United States and South Korea since May, some suppliers have started to increase their NAND wafer prices, and their quotations for the Chinese market have been slightly higher than the transaction prices from March to April.
2. Passive component inventory continues to adjust, optimistic about 2H23 recovery
Passive component factories have gradually entered a period of inventory adjustment since late 2021. The market points out that under the continuous reduction of production by major factories, the current inventory level of passive components has gradually entered a healthy state. Chen Taiming, Chairman of Guoju, pointed out that it may take another two quarters of digestion time.
Industry insiders say that the inventory of clients, channel providers, and manufacturers has been reduced to within 1 to 1.5 months, and the inventory level is already healthy. Although terminal demand is still not strong, there is an opportunity to challenge seasonal warming.
The industry has stated that even though the inventory level has entered a healthy state, even lower than the normal inventory level, the power to replenish inventory is still not significant. Japanese factories are even concerned that the second quarter will continue to be cold, so they have made more positive efforts in pricing than in the first quarter. However, overall, the pricing should have stabilized.
3. NAND prices may stop falling in June, with an expected increase of about 5% in Q3
TrendForce predicts that the domestic NAND market will undergo a transformation in June. As Memory module manufacturers strengthen inventory construction activities, the price of mainstream 512Gb NAND flash memory wafers may stop falling sharply and begin to recover moderately. This will reverse the significant decline in the industry since May 2022.
The institution predicts that NAND flash memory prices will rise starting from the third quarter of this year, with an expected increase of approximately 0% -5%. It is expected that the price growth rate will further expand to 8-13% in the fourth quarter of 2023. However, for products such as Solid-state drive, eMMC and UFS, promotional activities are still needed to clear the inventory. At present, there is no sign of price increase.
4. SK Hynix mass production 238 layers NAND
On June 7, 2023, SK Hynix announced that it has begun to mass produce its 238 layer NAND storage device, which is expected to achieve high-performance and high-capacity Solid-state drive. The new chip has a data transmission rate of 2400MT/s, which can be used to drive the next generation of the best Solid-state drive. The high-speed model will use the PCIe 5.0x4 interface, and provide 12GB/s or higher sequential read/write speed.
The company's first 238 layer 3D NAND device is a 512Gb (64GB) 3D TLC device, which has a 34% higher manufacturing efficiency compared to comparable devices manufactured on the company's 176 layer 3D NAND node.
SK Hynix plans to first use this new 238 layer memory on smart phones, and then promote its use in other product portfolios.
5. Intel plans to sell Mobileye shares
On June 6, 2023, Intel plans to sell a portion of its stake in Mobileye Global Inc. to raise approximately $1.48 billion for its chip manufacturing plan.
Intel has recently launched a plan to regain its leading position in the semiconductor industry by building new factories and rapidly improving manufacturing technology.
Intel plans to invest up to hundreds of billions of dollars in new factories. In addition to producing Intel's own chips, these factories will also provide OEM services to other companies.
The report indicates that Intel will retain approximately 88% of Mobileye's shares after selling some of its shares.
6. MediaTek's revenue in May reached the second highest level in 2023
IC design giant MediaTek announced on the 9th that its revenue for May 2023 was NT $31.567 billion, an increase of 11.35% compared to April and a decrease of 39.38% compared to the same period in 2022, marking the second highest monthly record in 2023. Accumulated, the revenue in the first five months of 2023 was 155.568 billion yuan, a decrease of 37.12% compared to the same period in 2022.
According to the last briefing by MediaTek, it was estimated that in the second quarter of 2023, based on the US dollar to New Taiwan dollar exchange rate of 1 to 30.3, the revenue amount will reach approximately 91.8-99.5 billion yuan. Based on the previous two months' revenue of 59.916 billion yuan, if the revenue exceeds 32 billion yuan in June, it can be considered as a low bid.
Tsai Ming-kai, Chairman of the Board of Directors, stressed at the shareholders' meeting that mobile phones, non mobile phones and power management are the three major businesses of MediaTek, and there are also many growth opportunities. There are opportunities for future growth beyond mobile phones, such as in the fields of automotive and computing.
7. SIA: Global semiconductor sales increased by 0.3% month on month in April
On June 8, 2023, according to the latest report data released by SIA, global semiconductor industry sales in April 2023 totaled $40 billion, an increase of 0.3% from $39.8 billion in March 2023 and a decrease of 21.6% from $50.9 billion in April 2022.
SIA President and CEO John Neuffer said, "The global semiconductor market is still in a cyclical downturn, exacerbated by weak macroeconomic conditions. However, monthly sales in April rose for the second consecutive month, which may indicate a sustained rebound in the coming months. The latest industry forecast predicts a double-digit decline in global chip sales in 2023, followed by a strong rebound in 2024
From a regional perspective, monthly sales in China (2.9%) and Japan (0.9%) increased in April, but sales in Europe (-0.6%), the Americas (-1.0%), and Asia Pacific/all other regions (-1.1%) decreased. Europe's year-on-year sales in April increased by 2.3%, but decreased in Japan (-2.3%), the Americas (-20.5%), Asia Pacific/All Other Regions (-23.9%), and China (-31.4%).
8. The competition for SiC expansion is fierce, and IDM manufacturers see differences
Recently, the European IDM large factories have been expanding production of silicon carbide (SiC) one after another, especially STMicroelectronics. This week, it further announced that it will cooperate with China San'an Optoelectronics to build a new SiC factory in Chongqing, and San'an will also build a SiC substrate factory to cooperate.
In addition, including Infineon, Onsemi, Wolfspeed, ROHM, Renesas, etc., there are follow-up plans to increase relevant capacity, and the competition for production expansion can be said to be very fierce. However, although all manufacturers believe that SiC will have a certain position in the market in the future, they do not agree on the overall market size and growth rate of SiC in the future, There are also some differences in related investment actions.
Rufa Semiconductor, Infineon and other companies are relatively active in expansion, and are optimistic about the future development of SiC market. In addition to expanding production, various cooperation models such as mergers and acquisitions, long-term supply, and joint ventures are also strategies that IDM manufacturers currently adopt in the SiC field.
9.TSMC plans to adjust its quotation again in January next year, with an increase of 3-6%
The global semiconductor market is in a downturn, with TSMC's capacity utilization rate plummeting in the first half of 2023. Despite the outbreak of generative applications, driving demand for NVIDIA AI GPUs and injecting fresh water into the weak market, many supply chains believe that returns are limited and it is still difficult to reverse the current situation in the short term.
It is worth noting that the rebound in semiconductor demand in the second half of the year is limited, and the year 2024 is also unknown. Recently, there have been rumors in the market that TSMC has been planning a long-term price increase strategy for 2024. Several major customers have completed negotiations and communication, and the probability of further increase is quite high. TSMC declined to comment on market rumors. 
