Morgan Stanley lifted its fourth-quarter NAND contract forecast to +15-20% and enterprise SSD to +23-28%, as US cloud buyers switch from TLC plus HDD to QLC for AI inference caching while PC DRAM output is set to fall over 20%.
The Korean memory maker wants Washington to authorise additional US chipmaking equipment for its Dalian NAND site and use the proceeds to fund a new US plant, at a time when export curbs are squeezing layer-stacking upgrades.
Nanya Technology's third-quarter average selling prices rose more than 60% quarter on quarter with gross margin at 85.7%, while Samsung and SK hynix are developing AI-tuned NAND lines as enterprise SSD demand lifts profitability.