Institutions: Xi'an lockdown, ASML factory fire is conducive to storage plants is not conducive to logic chip factories

Image source: Network

According to a report by South Korean securities firm NH Investment & Securities, the ongoing lockdown in Xi'an, China, and the fire at the ASML Berlin factory have affected semiconductor production. These events are good for the supply and demand of memory chips, but not for the supply of logic chips. It is expected that the performance of memory companies such as Micron and SK Hynix will surpass that of logic chip companies in the short term.

According to the report, Xi'an, China, has been locked down for two weeks due to the epidemic. While Samsung Electronics has a NAND fab in the region and Micron has a DRAM back-end manufacturing fab, its employees' commute to and from work is currently restricted, affecting productivity.

Among them, Samsung's Xi'an plant accounts for 15% of global NAND production. Given that the company's own NAND inventory and the inventory within the channel are at a relatively healthy level, the impact of the epidemic on NAND supply and demand is temporarily limited. It is expected to have a favorable impact on NAND supply and demand from the second quarter, as inventories will be close to depletion by then.

In terms of the ASML Berlin plant fire, instrumentation and inspection equipment were not affected, and production of DUV lithography equipment parts has also resumed, but the biggest blow is that the recovery of wafer clip manufacturing of EUV lithography equipment is underway, resulting in the production of DRAM using EUV lithography equipment and logic semiconductors below 5nm will inevitably be negatively affected.

As a result, the supply of DRAM will decrease and DRAM prices are expected to recover in the second half of the year. In the logic chip industry, which cannot benefit from the production cut, it is expected to have a negative impact on foundries and other related companies. (Proofreading/Aaron)