01. LPDDR4X Supply Tightens, Smartphone Industry Accelerates Adoption of LPDDR5X
According to TrendForce research on July 17, Korean and American memory manufacturers will reduce or cease the supply of LPDDR4X in 2025 and 2026, resulting in a supply-demand gap. Brand manufacturers, expanding their purchases of LPDDR4X, are driving up prices, with the increase expected to continue until early 2026. With LPDDR4X supply constrained, brand manufacturers will prioritize increasing LPDDR5X testing for convertible products. However, the space for low-end products to shift to LPDDR5X is limited and will require industry upgrades (such as 5G) to drive the transition. In 2025, LPDDR4X will still account for about 42% of total mobile DRAM output, but its output is expected to decline significantly in 2026, exacerbating the supply-demand imbalance and causing prices to continue rising, and may even result in price inversion with LPDDR5X. In 2026, as the supply of LPDDR5X increases, its contract prices are expected to be more favorable than those of LPDDR4X, encouraging end customers to switch to LPDDR5X. Currently, the rising prices of LPDDR4X are putting cost pressure on mid-to-low-end smartphone brands, and may even force them to exit the low-price market.
02. HBM Prices Face Double-Digit Decline Risk, SK Hynix Faces Challenges
According to reports on July 18, with NVIDIA and cloud giants advancing AI projects, demand for HBM is increasing. However, HBM prices may see a double-digit decline for the first time in 2026, posing a challenge to market leader SK Hynix. Goldman Sachs estimates that the HBM market size in 2026 will drop from the previously forecasted $51 billion to $45 billion, with the annual growth rate falling from 45% to 25%. Goldman Sachs pointed out that the HBM content in NVIDIA's next-generation GPU Rubin will be on par with the current B300 model, implying limited growth in HBM demand driven by GPUs. Moreover, when the next-generation HBM4 is launched in 2025, SK Hynix's market share may be squeezed. Samsung's HBM shipments are expected to grow by 20% annually, which will directly impact SK Hynix's profits. Meanwhile, the rapid technological progress of emerging Chinese memory manufacturers is expected to lead to the mass production of HBM3 by the end of 2026. Although exports may be restricted, their domestic expansion could weaken SK Hynix's market share in China.
03. Sony Israel Chip R&D Center Cuts Over 100 Jobs, IoT Strategy Adjustment
On July 14, it was reported that Sony has cut over 100 employees, a quarter of the 400-strong workforce, at its semiconductor R&D center in Hod HaSharon, Israel. The layoffs are part of Sony's global restructuring strategy aimed at optimizing costs and enhancing profitability. The center was established in 2016 after Sony's acquisition of Israeli chip company Altair, focusing on the development of low-power, compact wireless chips widely used in smart water and gas meters. Despite the significant scale of layoffs, the center remains an important part of Sony's semiconductor strategy.
04. Kioxia Launches Ultra-High-Speed SSD, to Ship with NVIDIA in 2026
On July 18, semiconductor memory giant Kioxia announced the development of an ultra-high-speed SSD for AI servers, with data transfer speeds approximately 10 times faster than traditional products. Developed in collaboration with U.S.-based NVIDIA, the plan is to begin sample shipments in the second half of 2026, with the goal of partially replacing DRAM in AI servers. Kioxia announced this plan at its online business strategy briefing on June 5, 2025. The developed product is a storage-class memory (SCM) named "Super High IOPS SSD," with random access performance (the ability to handle small amounts of data) reaching over 10 million IOPS, about 10 times that of traditional SSDs.
05. Phison Maintains Growth Momentum in Q3, Will Pass on Rising Costs to Customers
Despite the impact of the New Taiwan dollar's appreciation and advance purchases due to tariffs in the third quarter, Phison Electronics Corporation is still able to maintain its overall shipment momentum. The company plans to gradually pass on the increased substrate costs to its customers, prioritizing long-term partners to stabilize gross margins. In the second quarter, Phison's revenue reached NT$17.89 billion, a nearly 30% increase from the previous quarter, mainly driven by the price hikes of BT substrates and NAND Flash, as well as tariff-related inventory building. Looking ahead, Phison is sending control IC samples to Korean NAND Flash manufacturers, hoping to secure new orders next year. Meanwhile, its new 128TB eSSD product, targeting the AI server market, has started to ramp up sales, which will support its medium-to-long-term development.
06. Rumors of Arm's Move into Chip Manufacturing, Partners May Turn into Competitors
On July 17, the Nikkei reported that IP giant Arm plans to enter the chip manufacturing and ASIC chip business. If true, industry heavyweights such as Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Broadcom, Qualcomm, and MediaTek will shift from being partners to competitors with Arm. Currently, Arm mainly provides IP licensing for chip design and does not manufacture its own chips, but its architecture has a high market share in mobile phones and IoT end devices. Foreign media, citing analysts, said that Arm may enter the design of its own AI chips and become an ASIC chip manufacturer, which is seen as a natural evolution of its AI business. Previously, the Financial Times also reported that Arm plans to launch a new chip this year, with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, being the first buyer.