Demand for 3D NAND memory fell sharply during the third quarter of 2022, leading to a 24,3% drop in revenue for the entire NAND manufacturing industry quarter-over-quarter, according to a study (opens in a new tab ) from the business information company TrendForce.
The NAND Flash industry reported total revenue of approximately US€13.71 billion for 3Q22, which Trendforce linked to lower-than-expected figures in overall shipments of end products, such as consumer electronics, workstations, and servers, tied to a generally bleak economic outlook and lower capital spending by companies.
Shipments of 3D NAND fell 6,7% in the quarter according to the research, but that pushed average prices down 18,3% in the period as manufacturers tried to lower prices as part of efforts to make make their products more attractive.
What is 3D NAND?
3D NAND is a variety of non-volatile flash memory in which the memory cells are stacked vertically, unlike 2D NAND, which has a single memory cell.
Who took the hit?
This decline was not felt equally among manufacturers.
South Korean hardware giant SK Group's revenue fell 29,8% quarter-over-quarter to $2540 billion, ranking it third among NAND memory makers.
Samsung remained at the top of the totem poll of NAND makers with a 31,4% market share, transferring $4,3 billion worth of hardware for the period, despite a 28,1% drop in quarter-on-quarter sales hello.
In line with the overall industry decline, Western Digital experienced a 28,3% drop in revenue quarter-over-quarter to $1720 billion, while Micron reported a 26,2% drop in revenue to $1,690 billion. Dollars.
The market outlook remains pessimistic, at least for the near future according to TrendForce.
The analyst firm predicts that due to high inventories and falling prices, the NAND Flash industry will post a further decline of nearly 20% in total revenue in the fourth quarter.
Trendforce predicts that, with the exception of Samsung, suppliers are expected to be more cautious in production planning and will look to "rebalance" supply-demand dynamics as soon as possible, which could include measures such as reducing platelet supply and slowing it down. the pace of technological migration.
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