Citi has upgraded its outlook for the global memory market following a series of meetings with semiconductor suppliers across South Korea, citing stronger-than-anticipated demand and pricing dynamics.
The channel spot price for 64GB DDR5 modules has risen to $3,600 from $3,000, exceeding market expectations and reinforcing expectations of sustained pricing strength. Analysts noted that memory suppliers are reallocating NAND production toward enterprise solid-state drives (eSSDs), which is supporting stable pricing despite softness in consumer NAND and eMMC segments.
During the tour, Citi met with executives from key memory ecosystem players to assess supply chain trends. TES, a supplier of advanced semiconductor equipment, emphasized that memory process migration—including multi-patterning, higher NAND stacking, and increased EUV adoption—requires deeper etching, higher selectivity, and more complex deposition technology. The company also highlighted the need for advanced anti-reflective coatings (ARC) and equipment upgrades to facilitate memory node migration.
TechWing’s CEO reported that high-bandwidth memory (HBM) testing is shifting toward post-singulation testing due to rising base-die complexity. An end-customer has requested HBM suppliers to implement testing for HBM3E and HBM4 standards, which is expected to accelerate adoption of the company’s Cube Prober. The CEO anticipates faster migration toward custom HBM and 3D packaging solutions, driving demand for die-level test handlers.
Simmtech’s CEO highlighted growing adoption of SoCAMM2, a high-performance memory module technology, with multiple customers evaluating the platform. The company noted that SoCAMM2 module printed circuit boards command a significant price premium over conventional RDIMM modules due to higher layer counts and finer patterning requirements. Simmtech projects a compound annual growth rate of over 25% for SoCAMM2 over the next five years, based on strategic customer forecasts, with potential upside if additional U.S. CPU customers and a China-based customer adopt the technology.
