Apple can't source mobile memory chips from Chinese suppliers currently due to restrictions imposed by the US government. The company has been lobbying the administration to lift those restrictions, effectively arguing that current sky-high memory chip prices are unbearable.
Samsung, a top beneficiary of the current memory super cycle, is reportedly taking some steps to improve commodity DRAM supply in the short term so that it can better meet the needs of major clients like Apple.
Enhanced operational efficiency to help increase supply
Samsung is making moves to increase DRAM production at its Hwaseong factory by 15% before the end of this year. Prices for commodity DRAM are already up more than 80% in the first of this year.
This is biting into the margins of companies like Apple and even Samsung's own mobile division, who are faced with the difficult choice of raising prices on their consumer devices.
The company intends to do that by consolidating several facilities currently dispersed across the Hwaseong Complex 2 and Cheonan Campus at Hwaseong Campus Complex 1. It will also construct a new end fab at the complex while also expanding production lines in the remaining space to increase DRAM supply by up to 15%.
The final phase of the wafer manufacturing process happens at the end fab. Several end fabs were previously dispersed across Cheonan, with wafers having to be transported between the two. This consolidation will make it possible for wafers to be transferred to the back-end process line in bulk, improving efficiency, and allowing for greater output.
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