KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed lower on Friday amid mixed regional market performance as investors turned cautious over a possible rate hike by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and upcoming US economic data that may influence the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate decision next week. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) pared most earlier losses to settle 4.55 points easier, or 0.28 per cent, to 1,616.52 from Thursday’s close of 1,621.07. The benchmark index, which opened 0.37 of-a-point lower at 1,620.70, moved between 1,609.67 and 1,621.25 throughout the day. The broader market was negative, with decliners outpacing advancers 604 to 439. A total of 550 counters were unchanged, 1,151 untraded, and 18 suspended. Turnover declined to 3.17 billion units worth RM2.24 billion from 4.48 billion units worth RM2.75 billion yesterday. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-presiden...
Memory chipmakers are moving in sync on price increases as AI demand stretches supply across both training and inference workloads.
Market Snapshot
Samsung to raise LPDDR4X/LPDDR5/5X prices by 15%–30% in 4Q; eMMC/UFS up 5%–10%.
Micron (MU) reportedly planning 20%–30% hikes on DDR4/DDR5.
Capacity shift: DDR4 supply could drop to 20% of current levels by 2026.
AI pull-through: Tightness expected in both DRAM and NAND, with the up-cycle possibly lasting into 1H26.
HDD strain pushing faster SSD adoption; QLC SSD shipments could surge in 2026.
What’s Driving the Price Hikes
Capacity pivots: Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron are reallocating production toward DDR5 and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), accelerating DDR4 phase-out.
AI demand: As workloads shift from training to inference and the edge, demand for both high-capacity DRAM and NAND is tightening.
Industry Outlook
Local reports suggest the pricing up-cycle may extend through year-end and into the first half of 2026.
DDR4’s shrinking supply base means prices are likely to stay firm despite demand shifts.
Second-Order Effects
HDD under strain: Nearline HDD lead times are nearing one year, forcing suppliers to push nearline SSD development.
SSD opportunity: Price gap between HDD and SSD may narrow from ~4–5x to ~3x, improving adoption.
QLC inflection: With AI data volumes swelling, high-capacity QLC SSD shipments could accelerate in 2026, making flash memory a bigger complement to GPUs.
Key Takeaway
Samsung’s move to hike memory prices adds momentum to an industry-wide up-cycle already fueled by Micron and SK hynix. AI demand is tightening supply across DRAM and NAND, while HDD shortages create tailwinds for SSD adoption. Investors will get a near-term read when Micron reports earnings this week.
Comments
Post a Comment