Power outage at Samsung factory affects 3.5% of global NAND flash supply

[midian182]

As if incredibly high graphics card and DRAM prices weren’t bad enough, we could soon be paying more for our SSDs, again—albeit only temporarily. A power outage at Samsung Electronics' NAND flash plant in Pyeongtaek last week has reportedly affected the world’s supply of these chips.

News outlets in Taipei and South Korea, along with Digitimes, report that the blackout lasted 30 minutes when it occurred on March 9. During this time, up to 60,000 wafers were damaged, which equates to 11% of Samsung's overall NAND flash output for the month.

As Samsung’s fabrication plant is responsible for so much of the world’s NAND flash production, the number of damaged wafers in the incident accounts for 3.5 percent of the global supply for March.

Thankfully, Samsung’s stockpile of NAND flash chips should mean that it can offset the wafer losses, while the company and its rivals are increasing global production to make up for the shortfall. However, sources say the power outage could still influence supply and pricing in the coming weeks, but it shouldn’t take long for the market to return to normal.

The end of March will see Samsung begin expansion of its Xi’an factory in Northwest China. In 2017, the company said it plans to invest $7 billion over the next three years to expand NAND production at the plant, which currently outputs 120,000 wafers per month. Once the initial expansion is complete, monthly capacity will have increased to 200,000.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/73726-power-outage-samsung-factory-affects-35-global-nand.html

 

[GreyFoxx]

Great, just what the market needs, more price increases !

 

[alabama man]

Why isn't anyone else making these if they are so sought after? And as samsung seems to have monopoly on memory and nand why isn't anyone suing them or are they really the only company that is on this market? Samsung was based on bribes, it's nice to know that you bribe your way to monopoly with no consequenses.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Why isn't anyone else making these if they are so sought after? And as samsung seems to have monopoly on memory and nand why isn't anyone suing them or are they really the only company that is on this market? Samsung was based on bribes, it's nice to know that you bribe your way to monopoly with no consequenses.

there are. Crucial has their own fabs, so does sandisk/WD. Doesnt help us if they all collude to keep prices high.

This smells a lot more like an excuse to jack up NAND prices.

 

[merikafyeah]

RAM makers have been caught price-fixing before. To say they won't keep trying is naive especially considering that their gains after years of fixed prices might greatly outweigh any "wrist slap" fines they might get if (when) caught.

 

[Evernessince]

RAM makers have been caught price-fixing before. To say they won't keep trying is naive especially considering that their gains after years of fixed prices might greatly outweigh any "wrist slap" fines they might get if (when) caught.

Pretty much. Countries need to fine these companies for at least the amount they made over normal pricing. IMO though, a fine should be at least twice that amount as it is supposed to be a punishment to discourage price fixing in the future.

 

[Gigabob]

Why isn't anyone else making these if they are so sought after? And as samsung seems to have monopoly on memory and nand why isn't anyone suing them or are they really the only company that is on this market? Samsung was based on bribes, it's nice to know that you bribe your way to monopoly with no consequenses.

there are. Crucial has their own fabs, so does sandisk/WD. Doesnt help us if they all collude to keep prices high.

This smells a lot more like an excuse to jack up NAND prices.

Actually we are dependent on 5 major suppliers - Toshiba in Japan who provides NAND to Sandisk and is in the process of being sold, Samsung - the largest producer in the world, SK Hynix in South Korea, Micron and Intel. Both Micron and Intel had been in a Joint Venture agreement for NAND production which was recently terminated - as Intel pursues a new memory technology.

If you are concerned about NAND pricing today - just think about how much comes from Korea - and the political stability of that region.

 

[Athlonite]

We could soon be paying more for our SSDs, again—albeit only temporarily... hmmm sounds awfully familiar to when they had flooding and the price of HDD's went up drastically prices still aren't as low as they were before the flooding. So what we'll see is prices go up another 10~15% but once they recover they'll only go down by 1~2%

 

[cliffordcooley]

Sabotage from a competitor, Samsung's prices were getting too low.

 

[frostyshield]

So let me get this straight, 11% got damaged by a 30min power outage... how... did the robot that was holding them in the sky drop them when the power went out? anyone not see how odd this is lol.

Also "which currently outputs 120,000 wafers per month" so 11% aka 60k got damaged.. my math may not be that amazing but isnt 60k 50%?

 

[cliffordcooley]

So let me get this straight, 11% got damaged by a 30min power outage... how... did the robot that was holding them in the sky drop them when the power went out? anyone not see how odd this is lol.

Nothing odd about it, if you know how the die process works.

 

[VBKing]

How can a company as big as Samsung NOT have instantaneous battery backup for their crucial machines if a power outage is going to cause damage and loss of your crucial products?

The company I used to work for had gas and battery powered generators that would kick in immediately during a power outage and if we felt the power wouldn't come back on in a half-hour, we could do controlled shutdowns of our manufacturing machines and computer servers if we didn't feel like monitoring and refueling the gas generators indefinitely.

 

[GirlDownunder]

How can a company as big as Samsung NOT have instantaneous battery backup for their crucial machines if a power outage is going to cause damage and loss of your crucial products?

It's B.S.

Sammy wants to bump up its prices for a little while.

They're all duplicitous jackals.