Memory

Memory Market “Is currently in a free-fall”

Posted on by Techtime

IC Insights reduced its worldwide IC market growth forecast for 2022 from 11% to 7%. The downgraded expectation is almost entirely due to the collapse of the memory market in the second half of 2022.  In a recent report, the company writes: “It was as though someone flipped a switch to the off position for the memory market beginning in June.”

In early September, Kyung Kye-hyun, Samsung’s co-CEO and head of its semiconductor unit said, “The second half of this year looks bad, and as of now, next year doesn’t really seem to show a clear momentum for much improvement.”

Many memory companies have attributed the swift downturn to a massive inventory adjustment currently underway by their customers, and expect this inventory adjustment period to extend into 2023. For example, when Micron’s fiscal 3Q ended in May, the company gave an early warning of the coming developments in the memory market: It presented 4Q (ending in August) sales guidance of -17%, and later revised this figure to at least a 21% drop in sales.

Western Digital, a major NAND flash memory supplier, commented in its 2Q conference call, that the inventory adjustment currently underway is “definitely very, very sharp in the quarter we are in (3Q22).”  Western Digital’s outlook is for a company-wide sales decline of 18% this quarter.  With hard disk drives (HDDs) making up about half of the company’s sales and expected to show only a modest decline in 3Q, IC Insights believes that its NAND flash business is likely to register a drop of at least 20% this quarter.

Taiwan-based Nanya is a relatively minor player in the global DRAM market, but its monthly sales data provides some insight into how swiftly the DRAM market can shift gears from boom to bust.  The company’s August 2022 DRAM sales were 39% of what they were in August 2021 – and down 53% from March 2022 sales – just five months ago!

With the memory market currently in a free-fall, IC Insights expects foundry giant TSMC to surpass Samsung and take over the top spot in the semiconductor company sales ranking in 3Q22: Intel is expected to move to the third position (beneath Samsung) in the ranking, with 3Q22 sales that are 26% less than TSMC’s.

Weebit Nano raised $4.5 million to commercialize ReRAM technology

Posted on by Techtime

Hod Hasharon (near Tel Aviv)-based Weebit Nano, which is developing a new type of non-volatile ReRAM technology, has raised $4.5 US million through a private allotment of shares on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). At the moment, the company is trying to raise an additional $0.5 AUD million through a public offering. Weebit Nano’s CEO, Coby Hanoch, told Techtime that this financial round ,”Will allow us to move towards commercialization, and hopefully, within a year we’ll already be engaging in serious interactions with potential customers.”

According to the report supplied by the company to the ASX, about half of the money raised will be allocated for the development of a dedicated module for embedded systems, the company’s first target market for its ReRAM technology. “Our technology has already been proven and tested by customers. We are now developing a specific module of the memory, in order to make it suitable for the embedded systems market.”

The Best of all Possible Worlds

Approximately 20% of the amount will be allocated for the development of a component called ‘Selector’, which is designed to minimize leakage currents between the memory cells, and about 15% for transferring the technology for production at standard Fab manufacturing facilities. Weebit Nano is developing a new Resistive Random Access Memory (ReRAM), based on the use of materials that change their electrical resistance in response to electrical voltage, thus “remembering” the voltage levels after they are disconnected from the power source.

It combines the non-volatility of flash memory with the fast, low-power, and long life cycle of the volatile DRAM memory technologies. The company estimates that its prototype is 1,000 times faster and uses 1,000 times less power than flash memory, traits which make him perfect candidate for IoT, artificial intelligence, information centers and more.

Lately, Weebit Nano announced first commercial collaborations, both with the Chinese semiconductors companies, XTX and SiEn. Together, they will examine the integration of the Weebit Nano’s memory component into their’ products. “China is the largest chip consumer in the world, and is determined to build an independent semiconductors industry,” said Hanoch.