Financial
• According to TrendForce, off-season slowdown and inventory pressure is the driving force behind the 20% QoQ revenue drop for the top five NAND Flash brands in Q1 2025. Consequently, the market saw a 15% decline in ASP over this period and a 7% drop in shipment volume. Some product prices rebounded by the end of the quarter. The forecast is that NAND Flash prices for Q3 2025 are likely to increase by as much as 10% as continued AI demand fuels enterprise SSD growth. The enterprise SSD market is likely to shift toward undersupply with finished product inventory levels remaining low.
• Global NEV sales topped four million units in Q1 2025. BYD retained its top position in the BEV market with a 15,4% share followed closely by Tesla at 12,6%. BYD also leads the PHEV market with a 38,7% market share over its nearest rival Li Auto. Xiaomi, traditionally known for its smart phones and smart manufacturing, has surprisingly entered the BEV top 10 list in position eight.
• Uncertainty surrounding the recently imposed US’ reciprocal tariffs combined with weakening demand poses a risk to the MLCC market. Growing caution and risk aversion among businesses and end markets have disrupted supply-demand dynamics in H1 2025 with concerns that the typical boost in sales during the second half of the year may not be realised.
• Foundry revenue decline has dropped to 5,4% as China subsidies soften the expected downturn. TSMC maintained its dominant position with a 67% market share. Samsung Foundry dropped 11,3% QoQ, posting a Q1 revenue of $2,89 billion, reducing their market share slightly to 7,7%.
• DRAM revenue dropped sharply by 5,5% in the first quarter of 2025. SK Hynix has now overtaken Samsung to reach the top spot, despite its own 7,1% QoQ revenue decline due to lower shipment volumes. Samsung’s drop to second place reflected a considerable 19% drop in revenue.
• DDR4 contract prices for servers and PCs are expected to rise sharply in the second quarter of 2025. This is due to major suppliers scaling back DDR4 production, and buyers accelerating procurement ahead of any US tariff changes. The forecast is for an 18 – 23% rise QoQ in server DDR4 contract prices, while for PCs, a 13 –18% increase is predicted.
• WeThinkCode, a South African software development academy, has secured a $2 million Google.org grant to develop and run an AI training programme both locally and in Kenya. The company plans to train 12 000 people in the two countries in what it dubs ‘critical AI skills.’
• According to IoT analyst, Berg Insight, cellular IoT module revenues grew 13% in 2024. Annual shipments amounted to 514 million units and generated a revenue of $6,0 billion. Shipments of IoT modules are forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 11% until 2029.
• Robust AI demand has increased revenue by an average of 6% for the top 10 global IC design companies in Q1 2025. Revenue for the global IC industry during this quarter reached $77,4 billion, setting a new record high. This growth was fuelled by early stocking ahead of new US tariffs on electronics and the ongoing construction of AI data centres around the world.
Companies
• Veeam Software, a global leader by market share in Data Resilience, proudly celebrated the achievements of its top-performing partners across South Africa and the rest of Africa at the 2025 Veeam ProPartner Awards held on 21 May. Datacentrix won ‘Fastest Growth of the Year’, while Business Connexion was honoured with ‘Best VCSP Partner of the Year’ award. First Technology Western Cape and KZN walked away with ‘Best Resell Partner of the Year.’
• Technology distributor, Tarsus Distribution, recently announced that its CEO, Gary Pickford, is stepping down with effect from 1 June. He will be replaced by Emile Burger who has been serving as the company’s chief financial and operating officer. Pickford will remain on for the month of June to ensure a seamless handover.
• Mouser has been named as 2024 Distributor of the Year by Bulgin, a manufacturer of environmentally sealed connectors and components in the automotive, industrial, and medical sectors. Mouser’s strategic support of new product launches and customer growth in 2024 was cited as the main contributing factor.
• Mouser was also recently awarded 2024 E-Catalog Distributor of the Year from OMRON Electronic Components for a fifth consecutive year. As part of the recognition package of the Distributor of the Year program, OMRON will make a financial donation in honour of recipient winner companies.
• Netstar, a subsidiary of Altron, recently announced its plans to accelerate its global expansion, while reinforcing its stronghold in South Africa. The appointment of a new South African managing director will enable Grant Fraser, Netstar Group managing director to enhance Netstar’s strategic focus on international growth and local market leadership. The company is set to build on its strong foothold in Australia, extending its reach into new international markets.
• Mycronic has announced that it has acquired Surfx Technologies, a company headquartered in the US, that provides atmospheric plasma solutions for surface treatment including cleaning and active oxide removal. These solutions are used in advanced packaging, semiconductor processing, and other electronics manufacturing applications.
• Silicon Labs and Wirepas, a leader in decentralised IoT connectivity, announced that they have shipped 10 million wireless SoCs running Wirepas’ RF mesh connectivity software. These chips power some of the world’s largest and most demanding industrial mesh networks across sectors including smart electricity metering, emergency lighting, industrial monitoring and building automation.
• Danisense recently opened a new office in Shanghai, China, to be able to better serve its growing Asian customer base. The new office is being headed up by general manager, Siyu Yan, who has more than 15 years’ experience in the electronics, and test and measurement sectors.
• Nordic Semiconductor recently announced its acquisition of the intellectual property and core technology assets of Newton.AI, a pioneer in automated TinyML solutions for edge devices. This will see Nordic combining its nRF54L series wireless SoCs with Newton’s neural network framework.
• Stahl South Africa recently reported that it was the victim of a targeted cyberattack. In a letter to business partners, the company assured partners that its systems have been secured.
Technologies
• Due to the new US export restrictions imposed announced by the Trump administration in April, China has announced that NVIDIA will launch a special edition of the RTX PRO 6000 for the country’s AI market. This special, low-power downscaled version of the RTX PRO 6000 (formerly known as B40) will switch from the originally planned use of HBM memory to GDDR7 boosting demand for the latter memory type.
• The installed base of cellular IoT devices in the retail industry reached 147 million units worldwide, according to research by Berg Insight. Cellular IoT technology enables devices such as POS terminals, ATMs, digital signs and ticketing machines to be used at new locations where fixed line connectivity is unavailable or impractical. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10% to reach 217 million installed units by 2028.
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