Financial
• TrendForce’s latest findings show that global sales of NEVs, which include BEVs, PHEVs, and FCVs, reached 3,769 million units in Q2 2024. This represents an almost 30% quarterly growth, and a 24,2% YoY increase. Although its sales declined compared to last year, Tesla remained in top position. Chinese manufacturer BYD saw its PHEV market share increase past 36% in the second quarter.
• DRAM industry revenue surged past 24,8% QoQ in Q2 2024. This significant increase saw revenue of $22,9 billion. This surge was driven by expanded shipments of mainstream products that boosted revenue for most manufacturers. Key players Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron all reported increased shipments in Q2 compared to the previous quarter. Samsung benefited from a 17% to 19% increase in ASP, with bit shipments also rising slightly, leading to revenue growth for DRAM of 22% to $9,82 billion as the company maintained its market-leading position.
• Increased production and weakened demand are set to drive the price of NAND Flash down between 3 to 8% in Q4 2024. This downward trend is expected to impact client SSDs which may see a decline in price by up to 10%. Only enterprise SSDs are expected to remain stable, supported by increased adoption in data centres.
• Weaker consumer demand has persisted through Q3 2024, leaving AI servers as the primary driver of memory demand. This, combined with HBM production displacing conventional DRAM capacity, has led to suppliers maintaining a firm stance on contract price hikes. Smartphone brands continue to remain cautious, despite some server OEMs continuing to show purchasing momentum. Consequently, TrendForce forecasts that Q4 memory prices will see a significant slowdown in growth, with conventional DRAM expected to increase by up to 5% only.
• AI server growth remains robust in the wake of the AI surge, however, benefitting both Japanese and Korean suppliers. Orders for Hopper-based H100/H200 GPUs have increased by 65%, and demand for the scaled-down H20 GPU variant has risen by 33%. This increase has simultaneously driven the increased demand for 400G switches and AI accelerator cards using Annapurna network chips.
• On the back of the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates by 50 basis points to prevent a potential economic slowdown or recession, TrendForce has forecast that total shipments of MLCCs will reach approximately 1,205 trillion units in Q4 2024, representing a quarterly decline of 3,6%. Order forecasts for notebooks in Q4 have decreased by an average of 5 to 8 %.
• The global installed base of connected vending machines reached an estimated 6,5 million units in 2023, according to Berg Insight. They forecast that this number will grow at a CAGR of 11,8% to reach 11,4 million units by 2028, with global penetration reaching 71,3%.
Companies
• EBV Elektronik, an Avnet company, has been honoured with the EMEA Semiconductor Distributor of the Year Award 2023 by Vishay Intertechnology. “On behalf of Vishay, I’m proud to recognise EBV Elektronik for their outstanding contribution as the EMEA Semiconductor Distributor of the Year,” stated Philippe Masson, senior director channel EMEA. “Our partnership has been instrumental in driving growth and expanding the reach of our semiconductor products in the market.” Furthermore, in a joint accolade as part of Avnet, EBV Elektronik and its sister company, Avnet Abacus, have been awarded the EMEA Full-Service Distributor of the Year Award, showcasing their collaborative excellence in the European distribution landscape during 2023.
• Mouser Electronics was named Global High Service Distributor of the Year by TE Connectivity for a tenth year. The award recognises Mouser’s 2023 performance based on sales growth, market share growth, customer growth, and business plan performance. Mouser has received this award every year since 2013, with the exception of 2018.
• Silicon Labs and Kudelski IoT have partnered to accelerate Matter device certification. The collaboration integrates Kudelski IoT’s Matter Device Attestation Certificates (DAC) into Silicon Labs’ Custom Part Manufacturing Service (CPMS), enabling device makers to build Zero Trust security from the foundry to customers’ doorsteps, which ultimately saves time and cost. The Zero Trust approach, with its ‘never trust, always verify’ principle and continuous authentication, is fundamental to Matter, which mandates unique device authentication certificates using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for robust security. While this framework significantly enhances IoT device protection, it also introduces new complexities for manufacturers, particularly in securely obtaining and transferring certificates from Certificate Authorities to production facilities. By combining Silicon Labs’ secure manufacturing capabilities with Kudelski’s certified Matter PKI service, IoT manufacturers can now have Matter DACs securely injected during production.
• Mouser Electronics has announced that it is now stocking Nexperia’s expanded range of 650 V silicon carbide Schottky diodes for industrial applications. The PSC1665x diodes are available in real-to-pin DPAK TO-252-2 and TO-2 packaging for design flexibility. The merged PiN Schottky structure of these devices provides additional advantages over similar SiC diodes, including outstanding robustness against surge currents. This eliminates the need for additional protection circuitry, thereby significantly reducing system complexity and enabling hardware designers to achieve higher efficiency with smaller form factors in rugged high-power applications.
• Samsung, in collaboration with the University of the Western Cape (UWC), has proudly celebrated the achievements of the 4th cohort of graduates from the UWC Software Development (SWD) programme. This initiative, aligned with Samsung’s global vision of ‘Enabling People’, has played a pivotal role in equipping students with cutting-edge software development skills that position them as future leaders in the digital economy. Over the course of the programme, students gained hands-on experience in critical areas such as coding, app development, and digital problem-solving.
• ACTOM High Voltage Equipment is currently in the process of manufacturing 400 kV and 132 kV high-voltage primary equipment for the Ummbila Emoyeni wind farm project, located between Bethal and Morgenzon, in Mpumulanga. Once completed, the 900 MW hybrid renewable energy facility will be the largest facility of its kind in SA. Phase 1 is currently underway, which will see 15 MW of energy commissioned by late 2025.
• Fibon has become South Africa’s newest billion-rand company. A key player in South Africa over the past 12 years in developing and constructing behind-the-meter solar power projects, the company is currently expanding to encompass a range of renewable energy products.
Technologies
• AMD, in the AI chip race against NVIDIA, has said that its latest chips rolling out to data centres will exceed some of the capabilities of its rival. Lisa Su said at an event recently held in San Francisco that computer systems based on AMD’s MI325X processors will have the edge over machines running NVIDIA’s H100. The MI325X’s use of a new memory chip will give it better performance at AI inferencing. Under Su, who is the first cousin of CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, AMD has risen to eclipse Intel in evaluation and become closest rival to NVIDIA. AMD, which is expected to report quarterly results in the coming weeks, has set a target of $4,5 billion of revenue from its new type of chips for this year.
• Quectel’s ultra-wide band 5G/4G antenna, its YEMN016AA, has been awarded the 2024 Smart City Product of the Year. This award recognises the most innovative products and solutions driving smart city initiatives, improving urban environments, and enhancing communities through IoT technologies. The antenna has a frequency range of 600-960 MHz, 1400-6000 MHz, and for GNSS signals, 1166-1186 MHz, and 1559-1606 MHz. Having either an IP67 or IP69K rating, it is suitable for installation in any indoor or outdoor environment.
• The global satellite IoT communications market is growing at a steady pace, and has now surpassed 5,1 million in 2023. The number of satellite IoT subscribers will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39,2%. Only about 10% of the Earth’s surface has access to terrestrial connectivity services, which leaves a massive opportunity for satellite IoT services to pick up the slack.
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