Supply Chain
shortage of NAND Flash initiated speculative buying, which led to a panic surge in spot prices and about a 5 percent to 15 percent increase in contract average selling prices (ASPs) in the first half ofMarch.
This also has impacted the independent distribution channel,
which has started to see an uptick in orders. "We've seen a significant uptick in requirements and product transactions. It's a natural response to any kind of supply disruption," said Paul Romano, COO for Fusion Trade Inc., Andover, Mass. "This is amuch moremeasured response to a disruption in the supply chain."
And it's not just for
semiconductors. Romano says there has been an uptick in orders for lower cost devices such as inductors and
capacitors.Many passive component plantswere affected by the earthquake including one key supplierMurata, he said.
"We're seeing
requirements across the board for passive parts fromsuppliers such as Taiyo Yuden, TDK, Nichicon, and United Chemi-con," Romano said.
Passive componentmanufacturers like TDK, which recently
reported that some of its plants for electronic components including ferrite cores and capacitors were ready for production, stated that rolling blackouts will likely impact production.
This has also impacted component pricing in the independent
distribution channel. "We have seen impacts on DRAMand NAND flash pricing andwe've seen an uptick in demand for both," said Romano. Spot pricing for these devices has increased between 30 to 35 percent frompre-quake levels, he said.
"But a far larger issue lieswith some of these other parts,"
Romano added. "Pricing on the spotmarket also has gone up for passives as a reaction to demand far outstripping supply right now."
Romano alsowarns buyers towatch for counterfeit parts.
"Counterfeiters use these situations as opportunities. Everybody has to be careful especiallywhen it comes to passive devices because it'smuch harder to vet out a passive device."
Thismeans buyers have tomake sure that they are partnering
and buying fromtrusted sources and vendors, Romano said. They should have strong quality, inspection and vendormanagement systems, he added.
IHS says the recent buildup in global semiconductor inventory
may mitigate the impact of reduced supply from Japan. The market research firm reported in February that global semiconductor inventory levels had risen to high levels, surging
Hir
to a two-and-a-half year high in the fourth quarter of 2010. DRAMeXchange expects the earthquake to reduce global
NAND flash bit supply by less than four percent in the second quarter of 2011. Twomajor uncertainties in the supply chain are rawmaterials fromIC upstreamvendors and the condition of Toshiba/SanDiskYokkaichi NAND Flash plants, said themarket research firm.
P Panelanel
Polarizer
Polarizer To
Shig NEGNEG
Hyogo
PLD 8.5G AGC
GC
Hiroshima
DNP
Mie Sharp 8G
DNP/T
To
Toppan Source:WitsView
Corning/AGC D P/Toppan
Sharp 10G /A
NP/T ppan TOKY TOKYOKYO Shiga Ep Epicenter pi p
Saitama DNP
Chiba PLD 6G
Kanagawa AGC
AGC
Corning
ama
Niigata Toppan
oppan DRAMeXchange reports
that therewas nomajor damage to the Yokkaichi NAND Flash plants (Fab3 and Fab4), although some waferswere reportedly destroyed fromthe earthquake. DRAMeXchange estimates the damagemay reduce less than 10 percent of the total Toshiba/SanDisk output in the second quarter of 2011.
Although NAND flash
spot pricing is expected to increase significantly due to uncertainty in supply, prices are expected to stabilize and return to a normal supply and demand situation in the second quarter. DRAMeXchange also expects the decline in the
annual NAND flash contract ASPs to ease slightly in 2011.
Nomajor impacts on LCD panel, LED Supply As for LCD panel supply,Witsview, a research division of TrendForce, indicates thatmostmajor LCD panelmanufacturers are in the Kansai region, Japan,whichmeans they have not been significantly impacted by the earthquake.
The LED industry also shouldn't be impacted by the earthquake
since the two leading LEDmanufacturers in Japan, Nichia and Toyoda Gosei, are far fromthe disaster area in northeast Japan, said LEDinside. However, it's not known at this time if SDK's LED production line, located in Chiba, has been impacted.
However, DisplaySearch is reporting tight supply of nitrogen
trifluoride (NF3) gas,which is used in cleaning chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chambers in the production of TFT LCD, semiconductors, and amorphous silicon thin-filmsolar cells.
Some panelmakers could also see supply constraints for indium
tin oxide (ITO) target inventory (rawmaterial for ITO disposition) as a result of the shutdown of JK Nikko's factory, reported DisplaySearch. JK Nikko is a leading supplier of ITO target, along withMitsui,whichwas not impacted by the earthquake. Panel makers typicallymaintain onemonth of ITO target inventory.
There alsomay be a shortage of pigments fromDIC used in color
filters, connectors used in LCDmodules fromHirose and JAE, and exposure equipment for Gen 4 and smaller fabs fromNikon, reported DisplaySearch.
April 2011 | 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52