Citi confirms solid memory market outlook after Korea tech tour
Investing.com -- Citi hosted memory expert sessions and management meetings across the Korean semiconductor supply chain during its Tech Tour, confirming a stronger-than-expected memory market outlook. The channel spot price for 64GB DDR5 reached $3,600, up from $3,000, surpassing market expectations.
Memory suppliers are redirecting NAND production toward eSSD manufacturing, supporting stable pricing despite weakness in consumer NAND and eMMC NAND segments. The bank said it maintains a positive view on pricing trends.
TES indicated that memory process migration toward multi-patterning, higher NAND stacking, and rising EUV adoption requires deeper etching and higher selectivity. This shift demands more complex deposition technology and advanced ACL/ARC equipment for memory node migration.
TechWing's CEO said HBM testing is moving toward post-singulation testing due to increasing base-die complexity. An end-customer has requested HBM suppliers to implement HBM base die testing for HBM3E/4, which should support broader adoption of its Cube Prober. The CEO expects custom HBM and 3D packaging migration will speed up die-level test handler adoption.
Simmtech's CEO highlighted growing SoCAMM2 adoption, with more customers evaluating the technology. SoCAMM module PCB commands a strong price premium over conventional RDIMM module PCB due to higher layer counts and finer patterning requirements. Simmtech projects over 25% compound annual growth rate over the next five years based on strategic customer forecasts, with potential upside if additional US CPU customers and a China customer adopt the technology.
