MEMORY MARKET: While Samsung Electronics is likely to scale back spending on 3D NAND flash, it would maintain its status as the No. 1 spender, IC Insights said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 01, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Global semiconductor companies are to scale back capital spending by 12 percent next year from this year, as major memorychip makers are to slow down capacity expansion amid slack demand, IC Insights said yesterday.

Combined capital spending by the world’s top three suppliers of memory chips — Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc and Micron Technology Inc — is projected to decline by 17 percent to US$37.5 billion, compared with US$45.4 billion this year, the researcher said.

IC Insights said the expected decline in capital spending was due to “the current softness in the memory market.”

The weakness is expected to extend into as least the first half of next year, it said.    [FULL  STORY]