NOR flash is relatively small portion for Intel compared to AMD but it's money in the bank;
the gating item appear to be chipsets - turning the chipset shortage into demand related issue a la Goldman is HS IMHO (H stands for horse)
Supply of high-density NOR flash said to be tight
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Hans Wu, Taipei; Esther Lam, DigiTimes.com [Monday 5 December 2005]
In addition to supply trailing demand for low-density parts, the NOR flash memory market is experiencing tight supply of high-density parts (above 8Mbit) from the two leading makers, Intel and Spansion, and the situation is not expected to ease until the first quarter of 2006, according to industry players.
Supply of low-density NOR flash chips including 4Mbit and 8Mbit parts has been lagging behind demand for the past few weeks, buoyed by surging consumer electronics demand, the sources noted.
Although the shortage of low-density NOR flash has not improved, high-density parts are now becoming the main worry for buyers, as leading makers Intel and Spansion are unable to fulfill demand, the sources added.
Intel has shifted its production away from NOR flash back to DDR-based chipsets, which has led to a capacity squeeze at the maker, analysts explained. Spansion, which was already suffering from insufficient NOR flash capacity, found itself on the receiving end of strong demand from white-label handset makers, which aggravated tight supply concerns.
NOR flash revenues grew 11.9% sequentially in the third quarter of this year to reach US$2.03 billion, as compared to a 14.7% sequential decline that the industry experienced in the third quarter of last year, according to iSuppli.
According to Jefferies & Company research, spot prices for most densities of NOR flash started rebounding from October, with prices of 16Mbit and above density chips continuing to rise in November.
In November, both the 32Mbit and 64Mbit NOR flash segments experienced their first price rebound this year.
Take a look at the price trend:
digitimes.com |
