Financial
• According to Berg Insight, more than 6,3 million cellular routers and gateways were shipped globally in 2023, amounting to a total market value of $1,6 billion. This represents a growth rate of 3% year-on-year. Going forward, annual sales of cellular routers and gateways are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 12% until 2028, reaching a total revenue of $2,8 billion by the end of 2028. The industrial and transportation sectors remain the significant buyers in this market.
• Several well-known businesses have succumbed to mounting financial pressure leading to liquidation in 2024, with Stats SA revealing that, as of August 2024, a total of 1020 companies had shut their doors. In the electronics and energy sectors, two companies, Ellies and Hohm Energy, have followed suit. This follows a significant number of businesses who shut down in 2023, marking a worrying trend in the tumultuous business landscape in SA.
• According to TrendForce, the global revenue for the DRAM module market reached $12,5 billion in 2023, a YoY decline of 28%. This drop in the market was largely due to weak consumer demand. The market did, however, begin to pick up towards the latter part of 2023 with the top 10 DRAM module makers accounted for 93% of the total industry revenue.
• During the first three quarters of 2024, the DRAM industry experienced inventory reductions and price recovery. This, however, is expected to weaken in Q4. Many DRAM suppliers have begun planning new capacity expansions which could lead to a 25% YoY increase in total DRAM bit output next year. This would realise a more substantial growth than in 2024.
• Recent reports indicate that TSMC has notified its Chinese clients of a temporary suspension on shipments of advanced AI chips produced using 7 nm and smaller processes. Going forward, Chinese clients will be subject to a strict review policy to ensure that supplied chips are not used for AI or other restricted purposes.
• According to a new research report from the leading IoT market research provider Berg Insight, the total active installed base of connected mining solutions reached close to 1,3 million units in the equipment, people and environment segments in 2023. The equipment segment accounts for the largest share of the total, representing connected units deployed on machines and vehicles used in mining operations. This includes solutions ranging from OEM telematics systems on mining equipment to advanced connected solutions supplied by mining technology specialists. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 16%, the total installed base of connected mining solutions in all these segments is forecasted to reach 2,7 million units in 2028.
Companies
• A fire recently broke out in Eskom’s ageing Kriel power station in Mpumalanga. The fire damaged unit 6, which is one of the six generation units at the 3 GW station, causing 475 MW of generation capacity to be removed from the power station’s total. The incident was caused when an oil pipe burst at 17:04 on Sunday, 3 November, causing the unit to trip and triggering the fire when hydraulic oil spilled onto the hot surfaces of the turbine.
• Eskom has reported that its total unplanned outages has declined to 9,5 GW [now less than 9 GW with Kriel unit 6 offline], an almost 5 GW improvement over the same period last year and the lowest in the past four years. The utility company said that it has moved closer to its energy availability factor (EAF) goal which it hopes to achieve by March 2025. Eskom also recently achieved a milestone of the longest period of uninterrupted power supply in five years, having reached 206 days without loadshedding around mid-October.
• Mouser Electronics was awarded the 2023 Amphenol Military & Aerospace (AMAO) EMEA High Service Web Distributor award. The AMAO award recognises high performance in new product introductions and point-of-sales growth. This is the third consecutive year that Mouser has won this award.
• Indium Corporation was honoured with a Global Technology Award during an award ceremony on 22 October 2024, at SMTA International in Rosemont, Illinois. The company received the recognition in the solder paste category for Indium8.9HFRV, a low-voiding, air reflow, no-clean solder paste that offers excellent stencil print transfer efficiency, response-to-pause performance, wetting, and coalescence. Presented by Global SMT & Packaging, the Global Technology Awards recognise the best new innovations in the printed circuit board assembly and packaging industries introduced in the previous 12 months.
• TDK Corporation and McLaren Racing have announced the formation of a strategic multi-year, technology partnership aimed at achieving new heights in innovation and technology. TDK has formed a partnership with the NEOM McLaren Formula E Team and McLaren Shadow F1 Sim Racing Team. The partnership represents a mutual determination to combine their technological expertise and build a high-performance future through the cutting-edge electric vehicle motorsport platform of Formula E, and ever-growing e-sports field. As a technology partner, TDK are using motorsport and racing as a testbed to advance technologies that could help shape the future of EV, gaming and beyond.
• Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD) and Qorvo have partnered to bring together industry-leading motor control and power efficiency technologies in the PAC5556A + ICeGaN evaluation kit. The collaboration combines Qorvo’s high-performance BLDC/PMSM motor controller/driver and CGD’s easy-to-use ICeGaN ICs in a board that significantly improves motor control applications.
Technologies
• KIOXIA has begun mass production of the industry’s first quadruple-level cell (QLC) Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 4.0 embedded Flash memory devices. With 4 bits per cell, QLC UFS offers a higher bit density than traditional TLC UFS, making it ideal for mobile applications that require higher storage capacities. KIOXIA’s new 512 GB QLC UFS achieves sequential read speeds of up to 4200 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 3200 MB/s, taking full advantage of the UFS 4.0 interface speed.
• The global pursuit and anticipation of applications for solid-state batteries (SSBs) have accelerated the commercialisation process of this technology. TrendForce’s latest findings reveal that major manufacturers across the globe, such as Toyota, Nissan, and Samsung SDI have already begun pilot production of all-solid-state batteries. It is estimated that production volumes could have GWh levels by 2027 as these companies race to scale up production. SSBs offer promising improvements in safety and energy density, but they continue to face significant challenges, including high production costs and complex manufacturing processes. Semi-solid-state batteries, currently deployed in EVs, have reached GWh-level scale installation, with cell energy densities ranging from 300 to 360 Wh/kg.
• The focus on HBM products in the DRAM industry is increasingly turning attention toward advanced packaging technologies like hybrid bonding. Major HBM manufacturers have confirmed plans to implement this technology in the HBM5 20hi stack generation. Hybrid bonding offers several advantages when compared to the more widely used micro-bumping. Since it does not require bumps, it allows for more stacked layers, and can accommodate thicker chips that help address warpage. Hybrid-bonded chips also benefit from faster data transmission and improved heat dissipation.
• The pan-African telecommunications company, Paratus Group, announced that its East-West Africa fibre route has been completed. The cable links Africa’s East coast fibre route with the West Coast fibre route, running from Maputo through Johannesburg and then across Botswana, to end up in Swakopmund on Namibia’s West Coast. With the frequent outages of the fibre lines running alongside southern Africa’s coastlines, this link has been touted as a digital lifeline for the region.
• Paratus Group has launched Paratus Eswatini through a joint venture with Mbabane-based IT company, Real Image. The new company will provide Starlink services and support across Eswatini and, because of the high cost of connectivity in the country, will be one of the most affordable connectivity options available to customers in both urban and rural areas.
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