NAND flash memory prices to rise 5% to 10% in the second quarter of this year

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Western Digital and Kioxia’s factories in Yokkaichi and Kitakami, Japan were affected by the material contamination incident, and have been suspended since late January this year, and did not resume normal operations until the end of February. Western Digital and Kioxia collectively produce more NAND flash memory than any manufacturer in the industry, occupying more than one-third of the market share. It is said that at least 6.5 exabytes of flash memory are contaminated, which greatly affects the supply of 3D NAND flash memory.

TrendForce, a market research agency, said that the current supply and demand sides have slightly high inventories, and PCs and smartphones are affected by the world situation and high inflation, demand continued to weaken, but due to the material contamination incidents of Kioxia and Western Digital, the overall supply dropped significantly, which directly led to a 5% to 10% increase in NAND flash prices in the second quarter of this year.

Currently, Western Digital and Kioxia mainly provide client-side SSD and eMMC products. Western Digital is the second largest client-side SSD and the largest client-side eMMC supplier, and subsequent supply will inevitably be affected. Earlier, Phison’s CEO said that the global NAND supply crunch will start to become apparent in mid-May and continue until the end of June.

According to TrendForce, PC makers have generally adopted a conservative stocking strategy for orders in the second quarter of this year, and it is likely to continue to affect orders in the second half of the year, thereby reducing their shipment targets for this year. As Kioxia gradually resumes supply in May, it is expected that the growth rate of client SSDs in the second quarter of this year will be 3% to 8%. Due to the material pollution incidents of Kioxia and Western Digital, the delivery period of enterprise SSDs was extended, and many customers turned to other manufacturers such as Samsung, which pushed enterprise SSDs to rise by 5% to 10%. In addition, eMMC prices will increase, while UFS prices will increase by 5% to 10%.

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