5. The wheels fell off in Q1 says Penn
With general expectations of a market recovery this year, “the wheels fell off in Q1”, Malcolm Penn, CEO of Future Horizons, told IFS2024. In Q1, Future Horizons’ 3% plus forecast became a -5.7% actual market result. Q1 was down 8.4% on Q4. Opto and discretes are still deeply in recession. The recovery in the market’s value in Q2 2023 was Malcolm-penn-150×150.jpegdriven by an ASP rebound which peaked in February 2024, but unit growth has yet to recover. Unit shipments are 14.1% below the long-term trend line of 10% annual growth.
4. HBM to be 20% of DRAM market this year; 30% next year
HBM’s share of total DRAM bit capacity is estimated to rise from 2% in 2023 to 5% in 2024 and surpass 10% by 2025, says TrendForce vp Avril Wu. By value, HBM is projected to account for more than 20% of the total DRAM market value starting in 2024, potentially exceeding 30% by 2025. The HBM market is being driven by significant pricing premiums. HBM’s unit sales price is several times higher than that of conventional DRAM and about five times that of DDR5.
3. Revenue and profit fall at Infineon
Infineon had calendar Q1 (FY Q2) revenue of €3.632 billion down 2% sequentially and 15% y-o-y for a profit of €707 million down 15% sequentially and 40% y-o-y. Infineon expects 2024 revenue of around €15.1 billion plus or minus €400 million. 2024 capex is set at around €2.8 billion. For calendar Q2, revenue of around €3.8 billion is expected with a profit in the high-teens percentage range. “In the prevailing difficult market environment, Infineon delivered a solid second quarter”, says Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon.
2. Arm revenues up 47%; shares fall
Arm’s calendar Q1 (FY Q4) revenues were up 47% y-o-y at $928 million for a profit of $391 million. Licensing revenue in the fiscal Q4 quarter grew 60% y-o-y to $414 million, royalties grew 37% to $514 million. For the full year, revenues were $3,233 million up 21% y-o-y for a profit which was up 80% at $1,408 million, with royalty revenue up 8% y-o-y at $1,802 million and licensing revenue up 43% y-o-y at $1,431 million.
1. Softbank reported to be in talks to buy Graphcore
Graphcore, the Bristol IPU developer, is said to be in talks with Softbank about a sale of a company for around $500 million, reports Bloomberg. Graphcore raised over $700 million venture capital, and was valued, at its peak, at $2.8 billion. Last September the FT reported that Softbank had offered to buy Graphcore. Graphcore-150×150.jpegSoftbank chairman Masayoshi Son has said he is raising $100 billion to invest in AI ICs. Graphcore made a loss of $204.6 million in 2022 with revenue falling from $5 million to $2.7 million.
