TrendForce analysts, who monitor the situation in the NAND flash market, have changed their forecast for the second quarter of 2022. If earlier they expected prices to fall by 5-10%, the new forecast says that prices will rise by 5-10%.

The change in forecast was based on WDC's announcement that at the end of January, contaminated materials were delivered to NAND flash production lines in Japan, which are shared between WDC and Kioxia. According to TrendForce, this will significantly reduce the volume of issuance. Meanwhile, WDC and Kioxia together account for almost a third of the NAND market.

The incident is estimated to reduce output by 6.5 EB, or 13% based on first quarter output. The timetable for the return of capacities to normal operation has not yet been approved. Analysts also note that the damage reported by WDC likely does not account for Kioxia losses, so the total number of wafers affected could be higher.

bbabo.Net