NAND flash supply to remain tight throughout 2017

Global supply of NAND flash memory will be tight throughout 2017, according to Khein Seng Pua, chairman of Taiwan-based Phison Electronics, which makes controllers for NAND flash chips integrated into products such as USB flash drives and memory cards.
 
Memory demand for handsets, PCs, servers, car-use and consumer electronics applications will be robust in 2017, said Pua.
 
On the supply side, chipmakers' transition to 3D NAND is causing supply shortages, Pua indicated. The tight supply of NAND flash was originally expected to ease at the end of 2016, but the shortages are worse than expected, Pua said.
 
Pua noted that Phison's revenues for 2017 will depend on the supply of NAND flash chips. Nevertheless, profits for the year "should not look too bad," Pua added.
 
In addition, Phison is looking to expand the workforce of its subsidiary in Hefei of China's Anhui Province to 100 employees in 2017 from the current 70, Pua said. The subsidiary has begun operations since 2015 dedicated to developing solid-state drive (SSD) controller technology.
 
Phison recently held a beam-raising ceremony for the phase-3 construction of its plant in Miaoli, northern Taiwan. The company plans to spend a total of NT$780 million (US$24.6 million) to build the phase-3 facility.
 
Volume production at the phase-3 facility of Phison's Miaoli plant is scheduled to kick off in the second quarter of 2017, according to Pua. The company's workforce in Taiwan will reach 2,300 employees when the facility starts its operations, up from the current 1,200.

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