Semiconductor and Tech Market Dynamics: Parallel Advancements in Tech Iteration and Market Differentiation
Recently, the semiconductor and technology industry has witnessed a series of key developments. Memory manufacturers such as SK Hynix and Winbond Electronics are advancing technological upgrades and capacity adjustments, while Qualcomm and Arm have demonstrated outstanding performance amid market structure changes. The industry presents distinct characteristics of accelerated technological iteration and intensified market differentiation.
In the memory sector, SK Hynix is fully focusing on the layout of 1c DRAM technology. After optimizing the efficiency of its HBM3E production line, the company will launch equipment adjustment and deployment. By increasing the number of EUV lithography layers and improving the precision of core equipment, it will restructure production lines to focus on the manufacturing of HBM and high-performance server DRAM. As a 10nm-class sixth-generation technology, 1c DRAM can reduce circuit line width and enhance power efficiency. Compared with the existing 1b technology, it can optimize yield, speed and reduce costs, and it is also the core foundation for HBM4E and AI server DRAM. At present, its 16Gb DDR5 DRAM has been successfully developed, and the mass production plan will be launched simultaneously with the multi-layer HBM4E to be released in 2026.
Winbond Electronics pointed out that the structural shortage in the memory market will continue until 2027. Affected by the conflict between DRAM technical standards and advanced manufacturing processes, DDR4 and DDR3 products cannot be produced in reverse after the advancement of DDR5 manufacturing processes. However, there is still sustained demand for old servers and specific SoC devices, leading to an imbalance between supply and demand. Currently, customers are actively signing long-term supply contracts for DDR4, driving up its prices. Winbond Electronics holds an optimistic expectation for the growth of revenue, shipment volume and ASP in the fourth quarter and the long term.
In the terminal and chip sector, the trend of market structure differentiation is obvious. Qualcomm’s adjusted revenue in the fourth fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2025 reached 11.27 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 10%. Its mobile phone business revenue was 6.96 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 14%. Qualcomm’s CEO stated that the mid-range mobile phone market has disappeared, and consumers are upgrading to high-end devices to run AI applications, which promotes the expansion of the high-end market. Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi remain its core customers. The company expects that the sales volume of mobile phone chips in the first fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2026 will reach at least 7.7 billion US dollars.
Arm also achieved impressive performance. Its revenue in the second fiscal quarter of fiscal year 2026 was 1.14 billion US dollars, a year-on-year growth of 34%, and its revenue has exceeded 1 billion US dollars for three consecutive quarters. Royalty income and licensing income increased by 21% and 56% year-on-year respectively. It has added three new CSS licensing agreements, and the top four Android mobile phone manufacturers have all shipped devices equipped with this technology. In the field of AI data centers, the shipment of its Neoverse CPU cores has exceeded 1 billion, and it is expected that its CPU share in top-tier hyperscale data centers will approach 50% this year.
From memory technology innovation to terminal market differentiation, the technology industry is in a critical transition period. Enterprises are focusing on the layout of high-end and high-performance products, and the implementation of AI applications has become a core driving force. In the future, industry competition will focus more on technological breakthroughs and precise market positioning.