Since the second half of this year, with the significant reduction in original factory production, the release of new smartphone models, and the stimulation of terminal consumer demand such as AI PCs, the consumer electronics cycle has rebounded, and it is evident that the semiconductor industry is rebounding from the bottom. At this time, some chips have risen upon hearing the news, sparking a new wave of price hikes in the semiconductor market.

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Analog chip: ADI firing gun, with an increase of 10-20%

Recently, following the significant price increase of storage chips, the sound of analog chip price increases has also been heard. According to Juheng. com, ADI, the world's second analog chip supplier, has issued a notice of price increase, and plans to increase the selling price from February 4, 2024, with an expected increase of 1-2%. And there are different price increases for new and old products, hoping to take advantage of the low inventory in the supply chain to stimulate customers to switch to new products.

According to the ADI price increase notice, the company attaches great importance to the reliability of stable production of components, and will not arbitrarily stop production of components within a controllable range. In order to maintain the supply guarantee for customers, the prices of some older product lines will be increased to offset the cost pressure of maintaining production.

ADI's new product design wins and more mature products will continue to grow annually, and expressed optimism about the industry's current situation and future pricing environment. In addition, Texas Instruments continues to reduce production, and the industrial landscape is expected to gradually improve. From a financial perspective, the growth rate of Texas Instruments inventory levels has also begun to slow down, and inventory growth has been significantly controlled.

In this regard, the industry believes that, because analog chips have gone through the pressure of inventory reduction and price decline in the past year and a half, Texas Instruments (TI), in particular, has adopted a relatively positive price strategy in Chinese Mainland, which also puts a lot of pressure on Taiwan factories and other foreign investors. This time ADI raised its offer to customers, which also symbolizes the gradual recovery of the overall market situation. It is expected that the future price environment will become friendly.

two

Storage chips: Multiple manufacturers have raised their prices, resulting in a strong upward trend

There are rumors in the industry that Western Data plans to increase storage related prices in stages, with a maximum increase of 55%; Samsung Electronics plans to increase its NAND chip price by 10% to 20% this quarter, and has decided to increase its price by another 20% in the first and second quarters of next year.

According to research data from TrendForce Consulting in early December, looking ahead to the fourth quarter, NAND Flash products will see both quantity and price increase, and it is estimated that the average selling price of the entire product will increase by 13%; The original factory has a clear attitude towards price increases, and it is estimated that the DRAM contract price will increase by about 13-18% in the fourth quarter. However, the degree of demand recovery is not as good as in previous peak seasons.

At the same time, driven by the trend of price increases in DRAM and NAND Flash, NorFlash has begun to contemplate price increases and is expected to rise from January next year. The increase is expected to further expand in the second quarter. According to industry analysis, the previous supply in the No Flash market exceeded demand. With related manufacturers such as Huabang Electronics and Wanghong starting to reduce production and inventory, and with the gradual improvement in demand for terminal applications such as laptops and smartphones, the No Flash market trend continued to improve by the end of the year, and it is expected to start raising prices early next year.

In addition, the latest survey by global market research firm TrendForce Consulting shows that it is estimated that in the first quarter of next year, driven by continuous stocking of mobile phone brands, the average price increase of Mobile DRAM and eMMC/UFS will expand to 18-23%. At the same time, it is not ruled out that in the case of oligopoly in the market or panic among brand customers chasing prices, further increases in price may be made.

three

Photoresist: Sumitomo Chemical raises product prices, with a maximum increase of 25%

According to industry insiders cited by South Korean media, Sumitomo Chemical's subsidiary, Dongyou Precision Chemical, has told South Korean semiconductor companies that it plans to increase the prices of KrF and L-line photoresists due to rising raw material and labor costs, with an increase of about 10% -20% depending on the product.

Industry analysis shows that the price increase of photoresist is partly due to the supply-demand imbalance in the global semiconductor market. With the rapid development of technologies such as 5G and artificial intelligence, the demand for semiconductors continues to grow, and global production capacity is limited, resulting in a shortage of key materials such as photoresists. On the other hand, the increase in costs of raw materials and production equipment has also had an impact on the price of photoresist.

The news of Sumitomo Chemical's price increase this time has spread. Industry insiders in the foundry industry have stated that if the price of photoresist increases, foundries have no choice but to pass on a portion of the cost to customers (wafer free factories). The price increase of Dongyou Precision Chemical's photoresist may lead to a deterioration in the profitability of foundries and the entire wafer free factory industry.

four

CIS: Samsung increases quotation by 25%

It is reported that the demand in the mobile phone market is gradually recovering, accelerating the speed of CIS destocking, and prices have entered the stage of bottoming out and rebounding. According to media reports, Samsung Electronics has issued a CIS (CMOS Image Sensor) price increase notice to customers, and will increase its CIS product quotation in the first quarter of 2024.

According to reports, Samsung Electronics' price increase this time mainly involves products with specifications above 32 million pixels, with an average increase of 25%, and some products have increased by 30%.

In response to Samsung's main reason for the price increase of related CIS products, the industry believes that starting from the second half of this year, mobile phone brand factories have gradually approached healthy levels of inventory and started to replenish inventory, which has significantly reduced the level of CIS inventory.

With Samsung Electronics raising its CIS prices for 2024, it will drive a comprehensive price increase in the CIS market. Industry insiders have revealed that Chinese CIS manufacturers plan to follow up on the price increase. Previously, it was reported that the prices of two sensors, OV50H and OV50D, from domestic CIS manufacturer OmniVision may increase by about 10% in December.

However, some people believe that the actual market demand has not fully caught up with the price increase of CIS chips.

five

epilogue

Overall, the demand for some terminals has rebounded, driving the growth of upstream chips. As the price surge of storage chips, mobile CIS sensors, photoresists, and other products continues to spread to analog chips, and with the continuous reduction of production by international leaders, the industry believes that the supply and demand relationship in the semiconductor market will improve in the fourth quarter of this year and even in 2024, which will drive the performance of related industries to rebound.