Due to the reduction of production by manufacturers and the alleviation of excess inventory, storage products were promoted for the first time in more than 2 years, of which DRAM** rose by 11% in November. It has driven the wave of price increases of storage products that were originally in a downturn in the market to spread.
Among DRAM products, the wholesale price of the indicative product DDR4 8GB in November (block trades**) is 1. per dayAround $65, 11% from the previous month**, the first time since June 2021**;Among NAND Flash products, the benchmark product TLC 256GB** from October to December 2023 is 1. eachAround $85, up 12% from the previous quarter, and the first time in nine quarters (since July-September 2021)**
Due to the sluggish demand for PCs and smartphones, manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Micron, SK Hynix, and Kioxia have successively reduced production in the second half of 2022 in an effort to recover**. The inventory surplus situation has eased, and the "production reduction effect is finally emerging".
Buyers of storage products are prioritizing stable purchases and are accepting the spread of price increases. The person in charge of procurement of a PC factory revealed, "Because the manufacturer said, 'If the ** level is maintained, it will not be shipped', so there is no choice but to accept a certain degree of price increase."
Every 3-4 years, the semiconductor industry will experience a "silicon cycle" that alternates between rise and fall, and the current market generally believes that 2023 will be the bottom of the cycle and 2024 will improve.
According to the WSTS** report, global semiconductor sales in 2024 are expected to hit a record high due to the sharp increase in demand for related semiconductor products due to the popularity of generative AI and the surge in demand for related semiconductor products.
In terms of product types, global chip (IC) sales in 2024 will be revised upwards to US$487.4 billion from the previous estimate of US$470.3 billion, an annual increase of 155%。
Among them, memory sales in 2024 have been revised upward to $129.7 billion from the previous estimate of $120.3 billion, a surge of 44.4%.8%；Logic, which includes CPUs and other products, has been revised upwards to $191.6 billion from the previous estimate of $185.2 billion, up 9.9% year-on-year6%。