DRAM production capacity competition resumes, 20nm process gradually becomes mainstream
Benefiting from the sustained sales of smartphones worldwide, the DRAM industry has made significant profits in the past year. DRAMeXchange, a memory storage business under TrendForce, estimates that the total DRAM output value in 2015 will reach $51.2 billion, with an annual growth rate of 12%, making it a year of stable market growth and profitability. Among them, mobile memory accounted for 36% of the overall DRAM output in 2014, and there is a chance to break through the 40% mark in 2015. In the first quarter of 2015, due to the decline in the average price of DRAM contracts and the traditional off-season in the laptop and smartphone markets, the total output value of the global DRAM industry declined by 7.5% in the first quarter, with revenue of only $12 billion. Entering the second quarter, Taiwan's two major DRAM manufacturers, South Asia Technology and Hua Asia Technology, have conservative expectations and believe that DRAM prices may continue to decline. Hua Ya Ke's CFO Shen Daobang believes that "Q2 mobile DRAM prices will slow down, and the average selling price may be worse than Q1. ”Li Peiying, Senior Vice President of South Asia Science and Technology, said: "Expected demand is still hot. Compared to Q1's slight oversupply, the overall DRAM market in Q2 will return to stability. The gap between supply and demand in the third quarter is not ruled out, and it is still slightly in short supply for the whole year. ”
The DRAM industry has gone through a downturn, and with the continuous guarantee of demand, DRAM factories have begun to consider building new factories again. Since the second half of last year, they have started to expand new factories one after another, and various production capacity competitions have resumed, steadily upgrading their processes. Since the beginning of this year, the Chinese government has actively supported its own DRAM industry, and various policies and acquisition actions have surfaced, disrupting this relatively stable competitive market.
