01. Industrial and Automotive Customers Compete for Limited Supply
Infineon’s TLE, IPD, and AUIR automotive series are facing prolonged shortages and prices are increasing. High-voltage MOS components, such as IPW65/90, IPB65, and IPP65/IPW90, are also experiencing shortages, with lead times exceeding 50 weeks.
Alternatively, the supply of the SAK and BSS series from Infineon is gradually recovering. However, lead times still vary and are generally high.
Additionally, there has been an increase in demand for Infineon’s IKZ and IKW series IGBTs, with the current lead time ranging from 39 to 50 weeks. These series have numerous applications, such as industrial SMPS and UPS, as well as controls. Other uses include FPGAs, solar string inverters, energy storage systems, chargers, home gateways, appliances, and computer servers and systems. Due to these wide-ranging use cases, multiple industries are competing for limited supply in the face of long lead times.
02. HBM memory prices rise amid surge in AI server demand
High-bandwidth memory (HBM) prices have begun to rise in response to a surge in AI server demand, according to industry sources.
03. ASP of NAND Flash to Continue Falling 3~8% in 3Q23
TrendForce reports that OEMs have continued making concerted efforts to scale back production. However, given that the trajectory of market demand is still unclear, it’s expected that the NAND Flash market will continue to be in a state of oversupply in 3Q23. Cautious inventory management by buyers is preventing a stabilization in NAND Flash prices even with an anticipated seasonal surge in demand for 2H23.
TrendForce predicts that NAND Flash wafers will be the first to see a price hike in 3Q23 as prices for module products such as SSDs, eMMCs, and UFS will likely continue to fall due to tepid downstream demand. Consequently, the overall ASP of NAND Flash is forecast to continue dropping by about 3~8% in 3Q23, though a possibility exists prices may recover in 4Q23.
04. Nvidia reportedly mulls outsourcing partial AI GPU production to Samsung
Nvidia is reportedly mulling outsourcing a portion of its AI GPUs to Samsung Electronics for fabrication amid increasingly tight capacity supply from TSMC. Industry observers noted that Samsung could potentially secure some orders from Nvidia if its 3nm trial products pass performance validation and its 2.5D advanced packaging technology meets the requirements of the US chipmaker.
05. Renesas signs 10-year wafer supply agreement with Wolfspeed
On July 5th, Renesas Electronics and Wolfspeed, Inc, a global leader in silicon carbide technology, announced the execution of a wafer supply agreement. Renesas paid a deposit of US$2 billion to ensure a 10-year SiC bare and epi wafer supply commitments.
The high-quality silicon carbide wafers provided by Wolfspeed will pave the way for Renesas to expand the production of silicon carbide power semiconductors starting in 2025.
06. Switch chips to remain slow through 2023, says Realtek
Realtek Semiconductor said prospects for consumer electronics remain unclear into the second half of 2023, especially with PC application customers continuing to place short lead-time orders in the second quarter. Whether switch chips recover remains.
07. Global semiconductor sales up 1.7% month-on-month in May
July 7, 2023, According to the latest report from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), global semiconductor industry sales totaled $40.7 billion in May 2023, up 1.7% from the $40.0 billion total in April 2023 but down 21.1% from the $51.7 billion total in May 2022.