01. WSTS: Semiconductor market expected to recover strongly
The global semiconductor market is expected to achieve strong growth in 2024 and 2025, according to the recent forecast released by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS).
WSTS has raised its spring 2024 forecast, expecting the global semiconductor market to grow 16.0% over the previous year. The updated 2024 market valuation is estimated at $611 billion. The revision reflects the strong performance of the past two quarters, especially in the computing end market.
For 2024, mainly two Integrated Circuit categories are anticipated to drive the growth for the year with double digit increase, Logic with 10.7 percent and Memory with 76.8 percent. Conversely, other categories such as Discrete, Optoelectronics, Sensors, and Analog Semiconductors are expected to experience single-digit declines.
The Americas and Asia Pacific regions are projected to see significant growth, with increases of 25.1 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively. In contrast, Europe is expected to show marginal growth of 0.5 percent, while Japan is forecasted to see a slight decline of 1.1 percent.
02. Dell expects memory and SSD prices to rise another 20% this year
Dell Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said on a recent quarterly earnings call that they expect costs to rise in all forms, including shipping and component costs.
"Various signs indicate that insufficient capital expenditures, low factory utilization, and low wafer run rates will result in supply being lower than market demand," Clarke explained.
Dell believes that much of the market demand will revolve around powerful AI servers that require high-bandwidth memory and high-speed internal and external storage. The cost of SSDs and DRAM is expected to increase by 15% to 20% in the second half of this year. Dell is likely to adjust its prices accordingly and pass the pressure on to buyers.
Dell said several memory chip makers scaled back production in the second half of the year to help correct inventory problems, but the real problem now is too much demand and not enough supply.
03. Global semiconductor sales increased 15.8% year-on-year in April
According to the latest report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global semiconductor industry sales in April 2024 were US$46.4 billion, an increase of 15.8% from the total of US$40.1 billion in April 2023 and an increase of 1.1% from the total of US$45.9 billion in March 2024.
Regionally, year-to-year sales in April increased in the Americas (32.4%), China (23.4%), and Asia Pacific/All Other (11.1%), but decreased in Europe (-7.0%) and Japan (-7.8%). Month-to-month sales in April increased in the Americas (4.2%), Japan (2.4%), and China (0.2%), but decreased in Asia Pacific/All Other (-0.5%) and Europe (-0.8%).
04. NXP, Vanguard to build US$8 billion analog wafer fab in Singapore
With help from TSMC, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp. (Hsinchu, Taiwan) and NXP Semiconductors NV (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) are forming a joint venture called VMSC that will build a 300mm wafer fab in Singapore.
VisionPower Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Pte. Ltd. will operate as a foundry and make 130nm to 40nm mixed-signal, power management and analog products, targeting the automotive, industrial, consumer and mobile end markets.
05. Qualcomm Reportedly Targets Data Centers as Its Next Step
Last year, Qualcomm entered the PC market, sparking an AI PC frenzy in collaboration with Microsoft Copilot+. According to Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, beyond mobile devices, PCs, and automotive applications, Qualcomm is now focusing on data centers. In the long term, these products will eventually adopt Qualcomm’s in-house developed Nuvia architecture.