Monthly Memory & Flash Market Watch

Samsung Takes Top Spot in U.S. Patents for 3rd Year Running while TSMC Rises into 2nd Place

• Samsung took nearly 2% of all patents granted in the U.S. in 2024. The company stayed on top and managed to grow its patent count year over year, from 6,165 in 2023 to 6,377 in 2024, a rise of 3%.

• TSMC climbed a rung in the ranking, bringing in 3,989 patents compared to 3,687 in 2023, an improvement of 8%.

Kioxia Technology Open Source Software Designed to Reduce DRAM Requirements in GenAI Systems

• The firm’s newly developed software AiSAQ contains a new ‘approximate nearest neighbor’ search (ANNS) algorithm, it delivers scalable performance for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) without placing index data in DRAM – and instead searching directly on SSDs.

• RAG is a critical phase of AI that refines large language models (LLMs) with data specific to the company or application.

• Sandisk to Host Inaugural Investor Day 2025 to launch as a standalone Flash and memory technology innovator.

SK hynix Partners With SK Telecom and Penguin Solutions

• The partnership is to pursue the development and delivery of comprehensive AI data center (AIDC) solutions and lays the foundation for building globally competitive AI data centers. By combing unique technologies of SK Group, such as semiconductors, energy, cooling and memory, the company aims to discover and develop a highly competitive AI infrastructure business model.

Micron Breaks Ground on New HBM Advanced Packaging Facility in Singapore

• The new HBM advanced packaging facility will be the 1st facility of its kind in Singapore. Operations for the new facility are scheduled to begin in 2026, with meaningful expansion of Micron’s total advanced packaging capacity beginning in calendar 2027 to meet the demands of AI growth. The launch of this facility will further strengthen Singapore’s local semiconductor ecosystem and innovation.

SUPPLY TREND

2024-2025 Worldwide SSD Shipment

WW SSD demand reached the highest level of total 2024 shipment amount in Q4’24, and shipment in 2025 1H is expected to climb up even higher than previous stage

2024-2025 Worldwide DRAM Output

DRAM production for all applications started resuming in 2024/B, and 2025 general output status is likely to stay above 2024’s quarterly level.

2024-2025 NAND Price Trend & Sufficiency Ratio

Flash Sufficiency: maintain at low level since 2024/B

Price Trend: NAND flash price drops to a low level in Q4’24, and will stay there throughout 2025 considering the general demand isn’t significantly strong and key chip makers plan to execute production cut.

2024-2025 DDR4 Price Trend & Sufficiency Ratio

DRAM Sufficiency: maintain at extreme low level throughout 2024 but is likely to have more production in 2025 1H to fulfill HBM demands.
Price Trend: 8Gb contract price had a strong bound at Q1/E’24, price level is similar since then. In 2025, DRAM price might drop a bit in Q1 but tends to stay at a relatively high place from the lowest spot price level, considering possible production cut on DDR4.

SUPPLY SIGNAL

	Type	Supply	Price
DRAM Module	DDR3	●	▂
	DDR4	●	▂
	DDR5	●	▂
Flash Storage	SLC	●	▂
	MLC	●	▂
	3D TLC (BiCS3) *Limited Supply. We encourage you to migrate to BiCS5	●	▂
	3D TLC (BiCS4) * Tight supply. We encourage you to migrate to BICS5.	●	▂
	3D TLC (BiCS5)	●	▂