Semiconductor Market News (FEB. 10 to FEB. 16)|Increased NAND Flash Demand; Inventec Enters Mainland China AI Server Supply Chain...
01. AI Chip Stocks Rise On Latest Data Center Spending Plans
Large cloud computing companies such as Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta have reaffirmed their data center spending plans, boosting the AI chip market. Specifically:
These investments reflect the companies' commitment to expanding their AI infrastructure and driving innovation in the field.
02. Rising Demand and Tightening Supply of NAND Flash
On the 12th, according to observations by CFM Flash Market, recent inquiries for some 1Tb QLC NAND Flash have increased. Original manufacturers are controlling supply to stabilize profits, leading to tight supply from some manufacturers. The market's acceptance of high-performance QLC NAND Flash wafer prices is on the rise. Against the backdrop of production cuts by multiple original manufacturers, the supply of low-priced resources has become scarce, which may slow down competitive pricing and reduce the supply of low-priced products while raising the price floor.
03. SK Hynix's North American Revenue More Than Doubled in 2024
According to reports from South Korean media outlets?Aju News?and?ET News, SK Hynix's cumulative North American revenue from the first three quarters of 2023 totaled KRW9.7 trillion and more than doubled in the first three quarters of 2024, reaching KRW27.3 trillion. The share of North American revenue in SK Hynix's total revenue also increased from 45.4% to 58.8%, indicating a growing reliance on the North American market.Industry observers noted that tech giants like Nvidia are mainly purchasing the most advanced HBM3E from SK Hynix, which is the main reason for SK Hynix's significant growth.However, US President Donald Trump has indicated that discussions regarding?tariffs on imported cars, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals?are underway, which may pose problems for SK Hynix and Samsung. Based on the Trump administration's current direction, semiconductor tariffs are expected to be around 10-25%. The Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) predicts that if the US imposes tariffs on semiconductors, South Korea's semiconductor exports will decrease by 4.7-8.3%.Securities industry analysts have pointed out that even if Trump imposes tariffs on semiconductors, the US will not benefit. The main reason is that?South Korean companies still dominate the memory market. Imposing tariffs will only increase procurement costs and reduce earnings for major US tech companies. Therefore, they believe the likelihood of the US officially announcing semiconductor tariffs is limited.
04. ams OSRAM Warns of Weak Q1 Automotive Chip Demand
On February 11, Reuters reported that Austrian sensor giant ams OSRAM issued a warning on Tuesday, forecasting that its first-quarter revenue for 2025 would be flat or slightly below the level of the same period last year due to continued weak demand for automotive semiconductors.
According to the company's financial statement, uncertainties and inventory adjustments in the automotive supply chain have persisted into the first quarter, while the industrial and medical markets are showing signs of bottoming out. Market observers noted that as the global automotive industry transitions towards electrification and intelligence, the long-term demand for sensors is expected to remain positive.
05. TrendForce: Uncertainties Loom Over 2025 AI Server Shipments
According to TrendForce's research on February 12, 2025, global AI server shipments grew by 46% year-over-year in 2024, driven by strong demand from cloud service providers (CSPs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). However, the shipment outlook for 2025 remains uncertain, influenced by factors such as the U.S. chip ban, the DeepSeek effect, and the supply chain progress of NVIDIA's GB200/GB300 Rack.
TrendForce has proposed three scenarios for 2025:
·Base Case:?This scenario, which has the highest probability of occurring, assumes that CSPs like Microsoft, Meta, Amazon, and Google will continue to increase their capital expenditures on cloud and AI infrastructure. Under this scenario, global AI server shipments are expected to grow by nearly 28% year-over-year.
·Pessimistic Case:?The annual growth rate is projected to be between 20% and 25%. This scenario considers potential expansions of the U.S. AI chip ban, delays in NVIDIA's GB Rack shipments due to complex designs, and the DeepSeek effect reducing reliance on high-end AI solutions.
·Optimistic Case:?If AI policies from the U.S. and China become more proactive (e.g., the U.S. Stargate program accelerates AI server deployment) and the DeepSeek effect drives the development of edge AI servers, shipments could see a year-over-year increase of nearly 35%.
Additionally, the DeepSeek effect is expected to push CSPs to develop lower-cost ASIC solutions and shift focus from AI training to AI inference, with AI inference servers potentially accounting for nearly 50% of the market.
06. Inventec?Wins Order with Three Advantages
On February 13, it was reported that Inventec?has stood out in the mainland China server ODM market and successfully entered the AI server supply chains of four major Chinese cloud giants: Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance. This success is attributed to three key advantages: long-term market cultivation in mainland China, strong collaboration with local major manufacturers, and highly customized services, supported by local key production lines.
Unlike many peers that initially focused on U.S.-based cloud clients, Inventec?has emphasized the mainland market from the beginning, starting its strategic layout a decade ago. This forward-looking strategy has now yielded significant results. Industry insiders believe that regardless of which mainland tech giant Apple ultimately partners with for its AI projects, Inventec?is likely to benefit from its extensive client resources.