Apple industry chain has huge output value and can bring considerable profits to suppliers every year, so many supplier companies hope to cooperate with Apple. However, the "fruit chain" is not so easy to enter and requires extremely harsh evaluation.
According to news from Apple, it is currently evaluating the procurement of NAND chips from Yangtze Memory . If Yangtze River Storage passes the assessment, what does it mean? Is it reliable for Chinese companies to enter the Apple industry chain?
NAND flash memory chip pattern may be broken
Korean manufacturers have absolute influence in NAND chips. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix two giants hold more than half of the NAND market share in the world.
According to statistics, Samsung Electronics NAND flash sales in the second quarter of this year reached nearly US$6 billion, accounting for 33% of the global market share. After
SK Hynix acquired Intel 's NAND flash memory business, sales rose rapidly. In the second quarter of this year, it recorded sales of US$3.6 billion, surpassing Japan's Kaixia and becoming the world's second largest NAND flash memory manufacturer, with a market share of 19.9%.
, the two Korean giants, have taken over half of the world's NAND flash memory shipments, with Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix accounting for the first and second respectively, while the third to fifth are Kioxia, Western Data , and Micron Technology .
It is not difficult to find that in the world's major NAND flash memory markets, the three countries that occupy a major position come from the United States, Japan and South Korea, especially South Korea. Not only NAND, but also Korean companies are leading the world in the market, including DRAM.
Korean company's memory chip industry has outstanding strength and has received many orders, including , Apple also uses Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix as an important supplier of NAND flash memory. However, the NAND flash memory chip structure may be broken, and the "counterattack" of Chinese companies is about to begin.
There is news in the industry that said: "Yangjiang Storage has entered the Apple supply chain and will supply NAND flash memory for iPhone14."
Regarding this message, no response from Changjiang Storage, and the supply of Changjiang Storage was mentioned in the outgoing message, and even the accuracy of the message is not clear.
However, Apple made a positive statement about this, saying: "No product currently uses the chips of Yangtze Memory, but it is evaluating the procurement of NAND chips from Yangtze Memory for iPhones sold in China."
In other words, Yangtze Memory has not yet entered the Apple industry chain, but is in the evaluation stage of Apple. So is it possible for Yangtze River Storage to pass Apple's assessment? Maybe it's possible.
First of all, Yangtze Memory has great strength, has the strength of 3D NAND flash memory design and manufacturing, and has achieved the delivery of 192-layer D NAND samples.
Secondly, Apple does not want to put eggs in a basket, and intends to reduce its dependence on Korean companies, so it will find more alternative manufacturers to cooperate.
From these two perspectives, if Yangtze Storage passes the evaluation, it means opening up a "chip opportunity" to catch up with the Korean storage industry. After all, with Apple's personality, if you want to balance the status of the Korean company's industrial chain, you will probably distribute orders evenly.
Just like before, BOE entered the iPhone13 screen supply chain, the orders received are almost tied to Korean companies. Now that it is the iPhone 14 series, its core screen supplier will take a step further.
Is it reliable for Chinese companies to enter the Apple industry chain?
Apple's money-making ability is obvious to all, and it can earn at least US$300 billion in revenue every year. These profitable power has also led to the prosperity of hundreds of suppliers. As long as you can get Apple orders, you can basically guarantee revenue and financial reports.
However, there are also some negative cases that once Apple terminates its cooperation, its performance may plummet.
is just like Offilu was originally Apple's largest lens module supplier, but Apple said that it would give up cooperation and give up cooperation, which led to OFILM's revenue and net profit plummeting, and it had to start the road of transformation. It has not yet emerged from the haze of Apple's termination of cooperation.
This makes people wonder, is it reliable for Chinese companies to enter the Apple industry chain? This depends on the degree of dependence on Apple's orders and whether its own position can ensure a firm foothold in the Apple industry chain.
The reason why Apple gave up cooperation with certain suppliers is because there is no need for cooperation. Either the technology does not meet the supply requirements or there is a better choice.
So if a supplier can not rely on Apple orders, it is nothing to cooperate with it. It is naturally a good thing to make money from foreign companies, and it is also conducive to enhancing its position in the global industrial chain and narrowing the gap with top suppliers.
If Apple can rely on it, Apple cannot do without cooperation and further prove the strength of the company. Just like Apple cannot do without TSMC's foundry, it cannot find a supplier other than , Qualcomm baseband chip, and it provides these companies with huge order production capacity every year.
Generally speaking, when Chinese companies enter the Apple industry chain, they need to ensure their uniqueness and industrial advantage. Make more preparations at critical moments and don’t bet on all hope for one customer.
written at the end
Yangtze Storage is a domestic NAND flash memory giant. Faced with the market position of Korean companies, if you want to break the monopoly, only by cooperating with top large customers can you narrow the distance to market share. As for whether Yangtze Storage can enter the Apple industry chain and what kind of market performance it will bring, let us wait and see.
Do you think Yangtze Storage can enter the Apple industry chain? Welcome to leave a message below to share.
