According to industry reports on the 26th, the worst period for memory chip sales has passed. As major manufacturers such as Samsung cut production, the glut has eased and prices have stopped falling.
The price of DRAM, which is used to temporarily store data on smartphones and PCs, has stopped falling. The wholesale price (bulk transaction price) of the indicator product DDR4 8Gb in August 2023 is about US$1.48 each, which is the same as the previous month (July 2023). Remaining at the same level, it was flat (not falling) for the 4th consecutive month. DRAM wholesale prices are settled monthly or quarterly between memory manufacturers and customers.
According to reports, the price of DDR4 8Gb products has plummeted 45% in one year since the spring of 2022. With the market downturn, the performance of various memory manufacturers has deteriorated. Starting from the autumn of 2022, they have begun to reduce production and compress inventory. With the production reduction The effects are showing, the excess situation has been alleviated, and prices have stopped falling.
Semiconductor market begins to recover
The August WSTS Blue Book showed that sales rebounded strongly in the second quarter, up 4.2% from the first quarter, indicating the end of the downturn, which is good news for the troubled chip industry.
The real good news, however, is that the recession bottomed out a quarter earlier than previously expected. This advance only added $11 billion to Q2 sales of $244 billion, but it was enough to lift Q2 growth from negative 5.0% to positive 4.2%
The market upturn was led by dramatic changes in the Asia-Pacific region, which grew 5.4% month-on-month
The severe disruption and unavoidable consequences of the previous market boom caused by supply-side shortages are now beginning to recede as unit sales and average selling prices - now slowly but surely - are rebalancing. The industry is now ready to resume growth, but the base has fallen sharply
The size and shape of the recovery will depend on the potential derailing effects on capacity (overinvestment) and demand (the economy), with the former looking unhealthy and the latter still full of uncertainty
2023 is still an unknown, 2024 will be equally clearly better, and the recovery is already off to a good start, but its pace and shape are still to be determined.
