According to Taiwan Business Times on the 29th, the strategy of reducing production and maintaining prices by major storage chip manufacturers has been effective. The Q4 contract price is better than market expectations, with DDR5 rising by 15-20%, DDR4 rising by 10-15%, and DDR3 rising by 10%, which is higher than the originally estimated increase of 5-10%. Taiwan Business Times also reported recently that as Samsung, SK Hynix, and other international memory manufacturers further reduce production, Micron’s production reduction will continue until 2024. It is expected in the industry that with reduced supply and AI-driven demand boosting momentum, the memory market will establish an upward trend. In particular, DDR5 is moving towards becoming a mainstream specification and plays a key role in supporting market demand.
It is reported that DDR, LPDDR, GDDR are three memory specifications or standards based on DRAM. Due to its performance and cost advantages, DDR has become the mainstream memory for PCs and servers at present. In July 2020, JEDEC officially released the final specification for the new generation mainstream memory standard – DDR5 SDRAM. To meet the growing demand for efficient memory performance, compared with its predecessor DDR4, DDR5 achieves significant improvements in performance such as faster transmission speed, lower power consumption improved stability increased memory density and enhanced access efficiency.
Zhang Liangwei from Dongwu Securities stated in a research report in July that JEDEC describes DDR5 as a “revolutionary” memory architecture that meets storage and data transfer needs brought about by new technologies such as AI cloud computing IoT etc.Currently,the market is undergoing an upgrade from DRR4 to DRR5,and it is expected that popularization of DRR5 will bring about a new round of growth for this industry.
Chen Haijin from Debon Securities pointed out in a research report on November28ththat with the update and iteration of PC and server platforms, the demand for DDR5 is increasing. According to Global Semiconductor Watch, recently companies such as ADATA, Tenxun Technology, and Yuzhan have also actively invested in DDR5. Among them, ADATA stated that at this stage it has observed that storage demand mainly comes from PCs with customer demands significantly improving. With the increase in PC memory capacity,it is expected that DDR5 shipments will surpass DDR4 in the first half of next year.According to “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” reported in October,relevant sources revealed that Samsung expects to significantly increase its production of DDR5 DRAMs in the fourth quarter of this year to meet strong order demand expected next year.
In terms of the DDR5 industry chain, Chen Haijin suggested paying attention to Lianqi Technology and Juchen Shares.Chen Haijin pointed out that during the DRR4 phase,the three companies globally engaged in R&D and mass production of server memory interface chips were Lianqi Technology,IDT,and Rambus.The competition pattern during DRR5 phase is similar to DRR4 phase.There are only three companies worldwide,Lianqi Technology,IDT,and Rambus can provide first-generation products.Lianqi technology stated on November 23rd,in a disclosure record regarding investor relations activities,the company maintains a relatively leading position in the field of memory interface chips.The company took lead rolein formulating international standards forDDR5RCDand MDBchips,and continues leading research & development.In recent years,the company has been ahead by beingthe firstto trial-produce second-generationRCDchips forDDR5and third-generationRCDchips.Currently,it is conducting engineering research & developmentfor fourth-generationRCDchips forDDR5.
Li Jiu from Northeast Securities pointed out in a research report on November 9ththat Juchen Shares cooperates with Lianqi Technology to develop supporting SPD EEPROM products for the new generation of DDR5 memory modules, strictly following JEDEC DDR5 standards. The products integrate I2C/I3C bus hubs and high-precision temperature sensors (TS), and are applied in UDIMM, SODIMM memory modules in the computer field, as well as RDIMM, LRDIMM memory modules in the server field. In 2021,the company’s SPD EEPROM products forDDR5memory modules have passed testing and certification by major downstream memory module manufacturers,and mass production has been successfully achieved.Withthe increaseinDDR5penetration rate,revenue fromDDR5memory module supportSPD is expected to increase significantly.
In addition, according to incomplete statistics from Cailian Press, besides Juchen Shares and Lianqi Technology,Dawei Shares,Lankotech,Jingwang Electronics,and Xinyin Electronics also replied on interactive platforms that they have relevant layouts related to DDR5 memory. The specific situation is shown in the figure below:
