力积电卖铜锣厂原因曝光 售厂后换取毛利升及纳入美光后段HBM合作名单

Core Viewpoint - The company, Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (力积电), reported its Q4 financial results and discussed the sale of its Cuozhuo plant to Micron, citing heavy depreciation burdens as the reason for the sale. This transaction is expected to improve gross margins and establish a partnership with Micron for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) production. Group 1: Financial Performance - In Q4, the company's revenue reached NT$12.5 billion, benefiting from an increase in average selling prices of DRAM and the appreciation of the US dollar, with a gross margin turning positive at 6%. Excluding the Cuozhuo plant, the gross margin would have been 17%, indicating that low capacity utilization and depreciation costs from the Cuozhuo plant were significant operational burdens [1]. - The company reported a net loss of NT$650 million for the quarter, a significant improvement from a loss of NT$2.73 billion in Q3 of the previous year [1]. Group 2: Market Dynamics - The memory market is experiencing structural supply-demand imbalances, with expectations that supply shortages will persist until the second half of 2026. This has led to rising wafer foundry prices [1]. - High-end AI servers are occupying the production capacity of major memory manufacturers for high-end DRAM, which is pushing up market prices for niche DRAM products, including DDR3 and DDR4 [1]. - The contract and spot prices for SLC NAND have also seen significant increases due to reduced supply from major Korean manufacturers [1]. Group 3: Strategic Moves - Following the sale of the Cuozhuo plant to Micron, the company plans to raise 12-inch foundry prices starting in January and will also increase 8-inch wafer foundry prices from March due to strong demand from AI servers and edge computing [2]. - The company aims to maintain its workforce and operational continuity while transitioning back to its Hsinchu facility. Micron has pre-paid for HBM backend wafer manufacturing capacity, integrating the company into its advanced packaging supply chain [2]. - The company has accumulated US$143 million in technical service fees without any delays and is progressing well in its collaboration with Tata Electronics for overseas factory projects, which will not be affected by the Cuozhuo plant sale [2].