Weak Consumer Electronics Demand Drives 4Q24 NAND Flash Revenue Down 6.2% QoQ

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TrendForce’s latest research reveals that the NAND Flash market faced downward pressure in 4Q24 as PC and smartphone manufacturers continued inventory clearance efforts, leading to significant supply chain adjustments. Consequently, NAND Flash prices reversed downward, with ASP dropping 4% QoQ, while overall bit shipments declined by 2%. Total industry revenue fell 6.2% QoQ to US$16.52 billion.

Looking ahead to 1Q25, the traditional slow season effect remains unavoidable despite suppliers actively reducing production. Server and other key end-market inventory restocking has slowed, and with both order volumes and contract prices declining sharply. NAND Flash industry revenue is expected to drop by up to 20% QoQ. However, as production cuts take effect and prices stabilize, the NAND Flash market is expected to recover in the second half of 2025.

Samsung retained its top position but faced a 9.7% QoQ revenue decline to $5.6 billion, impacted by weak demand for consumer electronics. Moving forward, Samsung aims to focus on enterprise SSD development and adjust production plans to respond to market shifts.

SK Group (including SK hynix and Solidigm) was affected by order cuts across the market, preventing it from meeting its previously set shipment growth targets. Q4 revenue fell 6.6% QoQ to $3.39 billion, securing second place. SK plans to dynamically adjust capacity in response to fluctuations in demand, positioning itself as a comprehensive AI ecosystem memory supplier through HBM, DRAM, and enterprise SSD offerings.

Kioxia, ranked third, saw enterprise SSD shipments offset weak smartphone and PC demand, limiting its Q4 revenue decline to just 0.2% QoQ, reaching $2.66 billion. The company is increasing NAND Flash layer count and significantly improving data transfer speeds, leveraging existing equipment for technological upgrades.

Micron, despite strong enterprise SSD shipments, was unable to counterbalance weak consumer demand, with Q4 NAND Flash revenue down 9.3% QoQ to $2.28 billion, placing it fourth. In 2025, Micron will cut capital expenditures on NAND Flash, slow down technology upgrades, and focus on 60 TB + SSD demand to improve profitability.

Western Digital/SanDisk, ranked fifth, saw consumer NAND product shipments exceed expectations, leading to a QoQ increase in total bit shipments. Despite falling prices, NAND Flash revenue remained flat at $1.88 billion. As NVIDIA’s Project Digits and the AI PC trend gain traction, SanDisk, a key PC SSD supplier, is expected to see steady revenue growth starting in 2Q25.