01. Low-Capacity eMMC Prices Surge Due to Rising Resource Costs, Potential Inversion in Future Price
According to a report by CFM Flash Market on August 13, some manufacturers have recently postponed their plans to discontinue DDR4, which has had a certain impact on the trade side but has not triggered panic selling. The consumer DDR4 market is generally becoming more rational, while LPDDR4X prices continue to rise due to delivery pressure. In the embedded field, the prices of low-capacity eMMC products and MLC NAND resources supplied by some manufacturers have soared significantly, prompting most storage vendors to increase the prices of low-capacity eMMC. Industry analysis indicates that if the prices of low-capacity MLC NAND continue to rise in the future, 8/16/32GB eMMC may become fully inverted with 64GB eMMC.
02. South Korea’s July Semiconductor Exports Surge 31.2% Year-on-Year, Four Consecutive Months of New Highs
Data released by the Ministry of Science and ICT of South Korea on the 13th shows that the country’s information and communication technology (ICT) exports in July reached $22.19 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14.5%. Among them, semiconductor exports increased by 31.2% year-on-year, marking four consecutive months of new highs. This was mainly due to the rise in prices of memory semiconductors and the increased demand for high-value-added products such as HBM and DDR5. During the same period, ICT imports increased by 9.8% year-on-year to $13.32 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $8.87 billion in the ICT sector. In terms of export destinations, exports to the US, Vietnam, the EU, and Japan increased by 11.9%, 16.4%, 18%, and 23.9% respectively, while exports to China (including Hong Kong) decreased by 5.6%.
03. Micron Halts Mobile NAND Development, Focuses on High-Growth Areas
On August 12, IT Home reported that Micron announced it would stop the global development of mobile NAND products due to the sluggish market for mobile NAND, including the termination of UFS5 development. Micron will focus on other NAND solutions (such as SSDs, automotive and end-market NAND) and the mobile DRAM market.
04. Japan’s Rapidus Achieves 2nm Chip Manufacturing Milestone, but Mass Production Faces Challenges
On August 12, SemiMedia reported that Japan’s Rapidus Company successfully manufactured 2nm transistors at its Chitose factory in Hokkaido, marking Japan’s first domestic production of cutting-edge semiconductors since 2010. Despite this significant progress, Rapidus still faces many challenges in achieving mass production, including a lack of customers and market competition. Rapidus plans to start mass production in 2027, mainly relying on government funding. However, as the global semiconductor industry has shifted to 3D stacking technology, Rapidus still adheres to its original roadmap, and the industry is paying attention to its flexibility in responding to market changes.
05. ASUS Expects Q3 PC Product Revenue to Grow 5%-10% Quarter-on-Quarter
On August 14, CFM reported that ASUS stated in its financial conference that its PC product revenue in the third quarter is expected to grow by 5%-10% quarter-on-quarter. ASUS is optimistic about the long-term growth of its esports and AI businesses. The outlook for its AI server business is positive, with the GB300 set to begin mass production at the end of this quarter and having secured substantial orders from several international CSPs. It is expected that AI server revenue will account for more than 15% of total revenue this year. Although the early tariff-driven rush in the first half of the year may affect demand in the second half, ASUS believes that third-quarter revenue will still grow, mainly due to high-end esports products and the upcoming release of new Xbox products.
06. Foxconn’s AI Server Annual Revenue to Break NT$1 Trillion
On August 15, the Commercial Times reported that Foxconn has achieved significant results in the fields of AI servers and electric vehicles. Foxconn’s rotating CEO, Yang Chiu-chin, said that the outlook for the AI server business in the second half of the year is good, with second-quarter revenue growing by more than 60% year-on-year, and cloud product performance surpassing that of consumer smart products for the first time. It is expected that AI server revenue will grow by more than 170% year-on-year in the third quarter, with full-year revenue likely to exceed NT$1 trillion. In addition, Foxconn has signed a contract with Japan’s Mitsubishi Motors, planning to enter the Australian and New Zealand markets in the second half of 2026, and is actively laying out its smart manufacturing and robotics fields, set to showcase its latest humanoid robot achievements at the Technology Day in November. Foxconn spokesperson Wu Chunyi pointed out that AI server performance now accounts for more than 50% of total server performance, and preparations are underway for the production of the next generation of racks.