Market Insight Report August 2025

 

U.S. and EU Reach Key Trade Deal: 15% Tariff on Semiconductors

On July 28, the White House officially released details of a tariff agreement with the EU, which will impose a 15% tariff on critical products such as semiconductors and pharmaceuticals. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that the 15% tariff will apply to "the vast majority" of EU exports to the U.S., including automobiles, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals. She stated that this rate was "the best outcome achievable" after negotiations. Meanwhile, Japanese government sources revealed on July 29 that the U.S. will also raise tariffs on Japanese semiconductors and pharmaceuticals to 15%, aligning with the U.S.-EU agreement.

 

The U.S. Department of Commerce indicated that the Trump administration will release the results of a national security investigation into semiconductor imports within two weeks, which is seen as a key driver behind the tariff adjustments. Former President Donald Trump hinted that many companies, including some from regions like Taiwan, China, are planning to invest in U.S. manufacturing to avoid the new tariffs. The U.S. heavily relies on semiconductor imports, particularly from Taiwan, China—a dependency that prompted the Biden administration to pass the CHIPS Act, offering massive subsidies to attract manufacturing back to the U.S.

 

 

WT Microelectronics Premium Capital Increase with Nichidenbo;

WPG Holdings Initiates Internal Restructuring

To strengthen market competitiveness, two major distributors, WT Microelectronics and WPG Holdings, have recently adopted new strategies: WT is expanding its passive components business through a premium capital increase, while WPG is planning an internal restructuring to consolidate subsidiary resources.

 

On July 16, WT Microelectronics announced a deepened partnership with passive components distributor Nichidenbo, involving a share swap through a capital increase. Under the agreement, each Nichidenbo common share can be exchanged for 0.668 WT shares, equivalent to WT acquiring a 36% stake in Nichidenbo at a ~21% premium, while Nichidenbo obtains a ~5% stake in WT at a 17.35% discount. Both parties emphasized that this is a collaboration, not a merger, and operations will remain independent.

 

WT Vice President Lin Guan-Nan stated that as a leading global IC distributor, WT has minimal overlap with Nichidenbo's passive components business, making the partnership highly complementary. Nichidenbo can leverage WT’s global customer base and supply chain expertise, while WT gains further access to the passive components market. Additionally, WT’s earlier acquisition of Future Electronics, which has ~20% passive components business in Europe and the U.S., complements Nichidenbo's Asian market presence, enabling combined IC and passive component solutions for customers.

 

Meanwhile, WPG Holdings is reportedly undergoing an internal restructuring, planning to consolidate three subsidiaries—Yosun, AIT, and Promate—into a larger strategic group centered around AIT. This move will replace its original four-subsidiary structure, with the integration expected to complete by 2026, forming a dual-core model with WPI and AIT. The restructuring is seen as a competitive strategy. WPG spokesperson Yuan Xingwen noted that the plan still requires board approval, and its full impact remains under evaluation.

 

 

STMicroelectronics Invests $950 Million to Acquire NXP's MEMS Sensor Business

On July 24, STMicroelectronics (ST) announced an agreement with NXP Semiconductors to acquire NXP's MEMS sensor business for up to $950 million in cash, further strengthening its competitiveness in the global sensor market. The deal includes a $900 million upfront payment and $50 million in milestone-based technology transfer fees, with completion expected in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals. The acquisition is projected to contribute approximately $300 million in annual revenue growth for ST, while also improving gross margins and earnings per share.

 

ST stated that the acquisition will significantly enhance its sensor technology capabilities in automotive, industrial, and consumer electronics applications. NXP's MEMS sensor business primarily focuses on automotive safety solutions, including airbag sensors, vehicle dynamics monitoring, and tire pressure monitoring systems, as well as industrial pressure sensors and accelerometers. The integration will combine the technical strengths of both companies, optimize product portfolios, and leverage ST's integrated device manufacturer (IDM) model to accelerate innovation cycles and boost market competitiveness.

 

 

 

DDR4 Supply Shortage Worsens: Samsung 8Gb Chips Approach $10,

Shortages Expected to Last Until Late 2025

Recent data shows that global DDR4 procurement surged 30% year-over-year in Q2 2025, driven by soaring demand from AI servers, data centers, and consumer electronics, with China's market growing 25%. Meanwhile, major memory manufacturers are accelerating the transition of production capacity to advanced processes like DDR5 and HBM, exacerbating the DDR4 supply gap.

 

The spot market situation is particularly severe, with Samsung's DDR4 8Gb WG-BCWE chip prices skyrocketing to $10 per unit, significantly higher than the 6Gb variant. Analysts predict the DRAM price uptrend will persist into Q3, with DDR4 module prices continuing to climb—32GB and 64GB RDIMM spot prices have surpassed $200 and $350, respectively. Currently, DDR4 chip prices are twice that of DDR5, setting a historic price disparity record.

 

Although Samsung, SK Hynix, and other suppliers are considering slowing DDR4 phase-out plans, existing capacity remains prioritized for smartphones and servers, meaning PC sector shortages may last until year-end. The LPDDR4X market also faces supply-demand imbalances, with reduced output from the top three memory makers triggering a buying frenzy among OEMs and contract prices rising for multiple consecutive weeks.

 

Industry analysis highlights that DDR4's certification and replacement costs remain high in industrial applications like servers and medical equipment, while emerging markets remain cost-sensitive, making demand more resilient than expected. The market is now showing clear divergence: urgent orders continue to support prices, but bulk demand is beginning to soften. Experts recommend adopting a dual-track strategy of "safety stock + technology transition" to navigate market volatility while closely monitoring shifts driven by DDR5 adoption.

 

Taiwanese DDR4 Capacity Expansion: Nanya's 8GB Chips Become Market Mainstay,

Q3 Price Volatility Expected to Narrow

With Nanya Technology's 20nm DDR4 chips entering mass production, its 8GB capacity products have been fully released to the market, with Q3 and Q4 capacity already nearly fully booked. Nanya's current monthly production capacity has reached tens of thousands of wafers, far surpassing competitors like Winbond and Etron, successfully filling the market gap left by the gradual exit of the three major memory suppliers.

 

Industry data shows that Nanya's DDR4 products, sold under a pre-order model, have seen an average selling price (ASP) increase of about 15% compared to the first half of the year. The company's 1B process (16-18nm) under development has entered the testing phase, with mass production of 16GB DDR4 chips expected by the end of 2024, which will further alleviate supply pressure for high-capacity products.

 

Market analysis indicates that while current DDR4 8GB module prices remain 10-15% higher than DDR5 16GB modules, the price gap has narrowed by 5 percentage points compared to Q2. With Taiwanese manufacturers continuing to ramp up production, institutions predict that DDR4 price volatility in Q4 will narrow from ±20% in Q2 to within ±8%.

 

Nanya has reportedly reserved 30% of its capacity for flexible adjustments, allowing dynamic allocation between DDR4 and DDR5 production based on market demand. Historical data suggests that similar price anomalies—such as DDR3 prices surpassing DDR4—typically last 6-8 months. The current DDR4 price inversion has entered its fifth month, and with Taiwanese suppliers' new process capacity coming online, the market is expected to gradually return to normal pricing logic.

 

 

NAND Flash Market: 512Gb Chips Surge 15% QoQ, Structural Shortages

Emerge in Small-Capacity eMMC

Latest market data shows that prices for 512Gb and lower-capacity chips surged 15% quarter-over-quarter in Q3, marking the largest increase in 2024. Spot prices for mainstream consumer electronics models (256Gb-512Gb) jumped 8% month-over-month, with some channel quotes spiking as much as 20%. Meanwhile, small-capacity embedded storage products also rose, with Winbond's 1GB SLC NAND prices up 10% monthly, and SanDisk's 8GB eMMC products outperforming Samsung's equivalents in price growth.

 

The market exhibits clear structural divergence: on one hand, demand from smartphones and other consumer electronics is driving price hikes for sub-512Gb chips; on the other, eMMC products are experiencing rare capacity-price inversions—4GB and 8GB eMMC prices have converged, as have 16GB/32GB and 64GB products. This abnormal pricing has led some customers to shift toward higher-capacity configurations, though industry feedback suggests full transitions will take time. Micron's official eMMC quotes have risen 7-8%, with significantly extended lead times.

 

Supply-demand imbalance is the root cause of this price surge. On the supply side, NAND wafer starts at Micron and others have dropped 30% year-over-year, with overall market inventories falling to healthy levels. On the demand side, the AI PC upgrade cycle is driving an expected 18% global NAND demand growth in 2025, with enterprise SSD demand growing as much as 25%. Notably, small-capacity SLC NAND and eMMC products face persistent shortages due to reduced capacity allocation, with specific models like SanDisk's 8GB eMMC at risk of stockouts.

 

Market trends suggest this rally will continue. Major suppliers have initiated Q4 contract price negotiations for 5-8% increases, with urgent order premiums reaching 15-20%. OEMs like Lenovo and Dell have started stockpiling 2-3 months early. Analysts warn that with Micron maintaining production cuts and Yangtze Memory's expansion yet to fill the gap, the NAND supply crunch will likely persist until at least Q4 2025. They recommend that end customers build safety stock for eMMC and small-capacity products while closely monitoring suppliers' capacity adjustments.

 

 

SK Hynix Plans to Double HBM3E Capacity to 40%, Meeting H20 Chip Demand in China

SK Hynix is accelerating its HBM3E strategy to address demand from NVIDIA's H20 chips re-entering the Chinese market. According to supply chain sources, SK Hynix plans to increase its 8-layer HBM3E production share from an initial 20% to 40% in H2 2025—a 100% surge. This adjustment follows NVIDIA's decision to adopt SK Hynix's 8-layer HBM3E as the primary memory for its H20 chips starting in 2025, replacing Samsung's HBM3.

 

Market data shows HBM3E delivers 30% higher performance than HBM3, with data transfer rates exceeding 1.2TB/s and 25% better power efficiency, making it ideal for AI training and inference. To meet demand, SK Hynix is urgently securing supply chain resources, with plans to procure additional critical materials and components, likely boosting supplier orders by 15-20% quarterly. The company aims to complete mass production readiness for 8-layer HBM3E by Q3 2025, with monthly capacity expected to rise from 10,000 wafers currently to 15,000.

 

Industry analysts predict NVIDIA's H20 relaunch will drive ~30% annual HBM demand growth in China, with 8-layer HBM3E capturing over 60% market share.

 

 

 

Data Center Chip Market: AMD Soars to 40%, Arm Shipments Could Reach 19 Million Units

Latest data shows AMD's share in the x86 server chip market has skyrocketed from near zero in 2018 to 40%, while Arm architecture is rapidly gaining traction, driven by cloud giants and NVIDIA.

 

At the current trajectory, AMD is poised to overtake Intel as the leader in x86 server CPUs by 2026. In Q1 2025, AMD's Data Center segment revenue reached $3.7 billion, with server CPUs contributing approximately $2.5–3 billion.

 

Meanwhile, Arm architecture is opening a second front. Cloud service providers like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have launched in-house Arm-based server chips, with Amazon's Graviton processor now in its fourth generation and cumulative production exceeding 2 million units. Cloud vendors report that their Arm chips offer 30%–60% better energy efficiency than x86—a critical advantage in the power-hungry AI era.

 

NVIDIA's Grace CPU, designed to pair with GPUs, is projected by JPMorgan to ship 2.5 million units in 2025. In AI workloads, Grace CPU deployments could outnumber x86 solutions by 50–100x. Although Arm currently holds about 15% of the total data center CPU market, industry experts predict annual shipments could hit 19 million units by 2030, capturing nearly 40% of the market.

 

 

 

NVIDIA H20 and AMD MI308 Approved for Resumed Sales to China

NVIDIA and AMD have secured U.S. government approvals to resume exports of high-performance AI chips to China. On July 15, NVIDIA confirmed via an official statement that its China-specific H20 AI chip has received an export license and is expected to restart sales shortly. AMD followed suit, announcing that its MI308 AI chip's export application is in final review and likely to be approved soon.

 

Market data indicates that the H20, a China-tailored product, accounted for ~35% of China's AI accelerator market in Q4 2024. AMD’s MI308 series represents ~20% of its Data Center revenue, with over $500 million in inventory prepared for China in Q1 2025. With exports resuming, NVIDIA could recover ~$1.2 billion in Q3 revenue, while AMD may recoup most of its $800 million losses.

 

The restoration is expected to drive 15% - 20% quarter-on-quarter growth in China's AI server market in H2 2025.

 

 

AMD Instinct MI350 Prices Surge 70%

Korean media reports that AMD has sharply raised the price of its Instinct MI350 AI accelerator from $15,000 to $25,500—a 70% hike—sparking industry-wide attention. AMD hinted that the increase stems from surging demand. While the MI350 initially gained favor for its competitive performance (rivaling NVIDIA’s B200) and lower price, the steep adjustment may push some customers to alternatives or force procurement reassessments.

 

 

NVIDIA H20 Supply Falls Short of Demand

Reports reveal NVIDIA's current H20 inventory stands at just 600,000–900,000 units, while Chinese demand reaches 1.8 million—a gap exceeding 1 million. In Q1 2025, NVIDIA shipped ~300,000 H20 chips to China, matching pre-ban levels. Soaring demand from Chinese tech giants, coupled with limited domestic alternatives like Huawei's 910C GPU, has created severe shortages. To address this, NVIDIA urgently placed an additional 300,000-unit order with TSMC, but insiders note production lines have shifted to other products, making near-term fulfillment difficult.

 

Analysts predict NVIDIA's upcoming downgraded B30 chip may partially fill the gap by Q4 2025. However, U.S. chip capacity is also strained, with TSMC's Arizona fab meeting only 7% of demand.

 

 

 

HDD Prices Surge 10% in July, Hitting Yearly High - Rush for 1TB/2TB Desktop Drives 

The desktop HDD market experienced a sharp price surge in July, with the latest channel data showing mainstream 1TB and 2TB HDD prices jumping 10% compared to late June - marking the largest monthly increase in 2025.

 

Severe supply-demand imbalance has led to tight inventory levels, with delivery lead times for popular models extending to 4-6 weeks. While end customers are still adjusting to the sudden price hikes, supply chain sources indicate that major HDD manufacturers are preparing another round of price increases in August.

 

This upward trend is expected to persist through Q3, with prices likely stabilizing only after manufacturers complete production capacity adjustments.

 

 

 

Manufacturer Updates

ADI

Supply Chain Remains Stable with Edge AI Emerging as New Growth Driver

Analog Devices (ADI) has maintained stable supply chain performance in industrial and automotive markets, with minor price declines for key products. Benefiting from the recovery in industrial automation and sustained growth in automotive electronics, ADI continues to lead in analog chips and signal chain products. Notably, the company has made significant progress in edge AI, establishing it as a new growth engine, though it still lags behind industry leader Broadcom in data center AI chips.

 

 

Renesas

Focusing on Product Line Upgrades

Amid weak macroeconomic demand, Renesas Electronics is implementing strategic measures, including product line upgrades, strengthening its software ecosystem, and securing its silicon carbide (SiC) supply chain. While short-term market conditions remain uncertain, Renesas remains optimistic about the mid- to long-term prospects of embedded systems and automotive electronics, expecting a recovery in H2 2025.

 

 

TI

Implements Broad Price Increases and Optimizes Product Portfolio

Texas Instruments (TI) executed a major price adjustment in June, affecting over 3,300 product models, with significant hikes for high-end signal chain products. The increases primarily target high-value products like ADCs and op-amps, with some models doubling in price. By phasing out low-margin capacity and focusing on high-profit products, TI aims to improve overall profitability. Chip shortages persist in automotive and industrial control sectors, with prices remaining volatile—customers are advised to plan procurement strategies in advance.

 

 

ST

Deepens China Focus and Expands SiC Capacity

STMicroelectronics has been active in China, launching new MCU/MPU products for industrial IoT and commencing production at its Chongqing SiC fab. The company is transitioning from 6-inch to 8-inch SiC wafers, which could reduce costs by 15–20%. Through localized supply chains, ST is strengthening its position in China’s EV market, offering products ranging from cost-effective to high-performance solutions.

 

 

Broadcom

Faces AI Chip Market Volatility and Inventory Pressure

Broadcom has experienced fluctuations in its AI chip segment, with PCIe switch chips piling up in inventory due to the H20 export ban, leading to declining prices. While the resumption of H20 sales to China may boost demand, the overall market remains weak. In traditional server chips, some models have returned to normal pricing, but inventory pressure persists, reflecting subdued demand.

 

 

Microchip

Launches Innovative ADAS Platform for Japanese Market

Microchip, in collaboration with Japanese partners, introduced its first ASA-ML camera development platform, delivering advanced ADAS solutions to Japan’s automotive sector. The platform features cutting-edge data transmission and hardware-level security to meet stringent cybersecurity requirements. Despite weak spot market demand, Microchip is positioning itself for long-term growth in autonomous driving through deep partnerships.

 

 

onsemi

Aggressively Expands SiC Chip Production

Onsemi announced a $2 billion investment to expand SiC capacity, catering to booming EV demand. The company has secured multiple automotive SiC orders, with mass production expected by late 2025. Currently, end-of-life parts and power management ICs are in high demand, while consumer electronics orders continue to grow.

 

 

Infineon

Demand Recovers, Focus on Power Management Solutions

Infineon saw improved demand in Q2, particularly for power management chips in laptops and servers, where supply remains tight. Automotive-grade chip supply has stabilized, while industrial demand remains steady. Although its green power segment grew 17% quarterly, margins fell to 9.6%, laying the groundwork for its next-gen GaN products.

 

 

NXP

Advances Localization Strategy and Pushes New Energy Solutions

NXP's current demand is concentrated on end-of-life and discounted products. The company also launched an innovative 18-channel Li-ion battery control IC series for EVs and energy storage. To mitigate geopolitical risks, NXP is collaborating with Chinese foundries to localize full-process chip production.

 

 

Xilinx

FPGA Market Diverges with Strong Demand for Automotive-Grade Products

Xilinx’s FPGA market shows a split: 7-series supply is stable, while automotive-grade and UltraScale+ products face extended lead times due to high demand. Spot market activity is muted, with ample inventory for general-purpose models, though some discontinued parts have seen slight price increases.