Lack of’SSD’ brain controller chip
Samsung Austin plant shutdown aftermath
Prices likely to rise by up to 8% in the second quarter
The shortage of semiconductor supply (Shortage) has spread to the memory semiconductor market. As a data storage device manufactured with memory semiconductors, the supply of solid state drives (SSDs) widely applied to notebook computers and servers is not smooth. This is because there is a lack of controller chips that serve as the brains of SSDs due to the shutdown of the foundry (semiconductor consignment production) plant. There is also a forecast that SSD prices will rise by up to 8% in the second quarter, when a decline was expected due to the aftermath of a supply shortage.
On the 10th, Trend Force, a market research company specializing in semiconductors, adjusted its 2Q corporate SSD price forecast (compared to the previous quarter) from ‘0-5% decline’ to ‘0-5% increase’. It is predicted that the price of consumer SSD will increase by ‘3~8%’. The existing outlook was’consolidation’.
The reason for the change in the SSD price outlook is due to the lack of supply of SSD controller chips. SSD is composed of memory semiconductors that store data such as NAND flash. The controller chip acts as a brain that determines the data processing order of NAND flash, and is a core semiconductor that determines the speed. If NAND Flash is a library that holds books, the controller acts like a librarian, deciding when and where to put data and pull it out.
The chip is manufactured by a foundry company after receiving orders from semiconductor companies such as Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Python, and Silicon Motion. Since the end of last year, the production capacity of foundry companies such as Taiwan’s TSMC started to become scarce as they could not keep up with demand. Trend Force predicted, “Due to the lack of controllers, the delivery date of SSD manufacturers is prolonging,” and “it will be a factor for price hikes in the second quarter”.
Samsung Electronics, which was procuring its own controller chip at its foundry facility, Austin, Texas, was fine until mid-last month. 10% of the Austin plant’s output (about 100,000 wafers per month based on the amount of wafer input) is allocated to its own controller chip. However, the Austin factory stopped on the 17th of last month due to a cold wave in Texas. Although it has recently resumed operation, an analysis comes out that it will take more time for normal operation. Samsung Electronics also faced a shortage of controller chips.
Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, etc. are explaining the supply and demand by sending letters to major SSD customers, such as server makers and notebook makers. An official in the semiconductor industry said, “Most customers have been inquiring about the shortage of SSDs and supply schedules from time to time.”
Some foreign media are reporting that “the delay in SSD supply will continue for a considerable period of time.” In Taiwan, it was reported that Samsung Electronics sent a letter to customers stating that’the controller chip shortage will not be resolved until May. A Samsung official said, “The controller chip inventory remains so that it is not enough to produce SSDs.” “Foreign media reports are exaggerated.”
Reporter Hwang Jeong-soo [email protected]
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