In addition to the increased production capacity of suppliers in the second half of 2018, which was gradually released in the first quarter, the demand side actively destocked and reduced purchasing power, resulting in a significant drop in DRAM volume and price in the first quarter, which also made the overall The output value fell sharply by 28.6% from the previous quarter.

Looking forward to the second quarter of 2019, the average price of mainstream 8GB modules has dropped to US$34 in April, with a quarterly decline of more than 20% in terms of the pricing of top-tier PC-OEM manufacturers. Inventory levels of DRAM suppliers continued to rise as trading volumes continued to slump. TrendForce expects that prices will continue to fall in May and June under the monthly deal, with a drop of nearly 25% in the second quarter. In addition, server memory, which accounts for nearly 30% of shipments, may face greater downward pressure on prices.

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From the perspective of revenue, the quarterly decline is generally quite sharp. Leading Samsung, with a relatively low relative base period and better-than-expected mobile memory shipments in the first quarter, delivered the same revenue bit shipments in the first quarter as the previous quarter. However, affected by the decline in quotations, revenue fell 26.3% from the previous quarter to US$6.97 billion, and the market share recovered to 42.7%. SK hynix's revenue bit shipments fell by about 8%, slightly better than the company's expectations. In the first quarter, its revenue was 4.88 billion US dollars, a decline of 31.7% from the previous quarter, and its market share reached 29.9%.

Micron maintained the third place with revenue of US$3.76 billion, down 30.0% from the previous quarter, and its market share remained at about 23%. TrendForce estimates that under the pressure of rising inventory levels, the three major suppliers' quotation strategies will still be quite active in the next few months.

In terms of profitability, some of Samsung's 1Xnm server products were returned and exchanged due to quality problems, resulting in additional operating expenses, which lowered profit performance. The operating profit rate fell from 66% in the previous quarter to 48%. Among the three major factories The biggest drop. However, even if the quotation has dropped by 20% to 30%, Samsung's gross profit margin for DRAM production is still close to 60%. Although SK Hynix increased its shipments due to Samsung product issues, shipments were concentrated in March, when the price was the lowest in the quarter, resulting in a drop in the operating profit rate in the first quarter from 58% in the previous quarter to 44%.

Micron’s financial report month is from December 2018 to February this year, and the price drop is not as good as that of the Korean factory from January to March, so the operating profit ratio is the best among the three factories, from 58% in the previous quarter to 46%. %. Looking forward to the second quarter, the profit margin of the original factory will be further compressed when the industrial price continues to drop rapidly.

From a technical perspective, Samsung Line 17 and the second floor of the Pyeongtaek plant will continue to switch to 1Ynm, but in order to adapt to the current market conditions, the conversion speed is not fast. In response to the 1Xnm server problem, Samsung plans to adjust the configuration of the product process in order to minimize the damage. SK hynix's 1Xnm shipments have exceeded 30% in the first quarter, and will begin to introduce 1Ynm processes.

In terms of Micron, Taiwan's Micron Memory (formerly Ruijing) has all been produced at 1Xnm, and the next goal will be directly transferred to 1Znm, and the actual contribution will fall in 2020; and Taiwan's Micron Wafer Technology (formerly Huayake) 1Xnm shipments share More than half, and will gradually increase the proportion of 1Ynm in the first half of this year.

For Taiwan-based manufacturers, Nanya Technology's revenue bit shipments fell by more than 20% in the first quarter, resulting in a 32.9% drop in revenue compared to the previous quarter. The shipment volume of DDR4 products with better gross profit did not increase significantly. In addition, the overall industry quotations fell, and the operating profit ratio dropped from 41.8% in the previous quarter to 26.6%. However, future shipments are expected to gradually pick up, and the decline in profitability is expected to converge.

In terms of Powerchip Technology, the shipment volume of its own standard DRAM products increased in the first quarter, which led to a 5.7% growth in revenue against the trend; if the DRAM foundry business was included, revenue fell by nearly 15%. Winbond's business performance is relatively stable due to the medium-to-long-term price negotiation with customers, and DRAM revenue only fell by about 5%_