Memory module house Apacer Technology intends to maintain chip inventories at high levels, judging from clear order visibility through May, according to company president CK Chang.
Apacer holds over NT$2 billion (US$71.8 million) worth of chip inventories, with inventory turnover days reaching 110-120 days. The company will continue stockpiling aggressively, as the peak season approaches, Chang indicated.
Despite concerns about overbooking by clients, Chang continued, Apacer and fellow memory module companies intend to continue building up their inventory levels by September.
Meanwhile, the global supply of NAND flash and DRAM memory chips has fallen short of demand, Chang said. The supply of MLC NAND flash chips, in particular, has become severely tight, Chang noted. MLC NAND flash memory is adopted in eMMC storage devices and communication related applications.
In addition, Apacer has seen shipments of its high-capacity SSDs jump as much as 400% recently, Chang disclosed. It remains to be seen whether the shipment growth momentum will carry on later this year, Chang said.
The upcoming roll-out of Chia, a new cryptocurrency that can be mined with a high-capacity storage device, has reportedly led to a recent surge in demand for high-capacity SSDs.
Customer orders for industrial products have performed relatively stable compared with orders for other applications, while demand for consumer electronics applications is poised to pick up between May and June, Chang indicated.
Of Apacer's total orders for industrial products, about 60% demand DRAM modules, Chang disclosed. Industrial DRAM memory is among the company's targets for inventory build-ups, Chang added.
In addition, Apacer has reportedly entered the supply chain of Volta Charging, a US-based EV power charging service operator, by providing SSDs and controller software for AOpen's industrial computers.
