The rise of electronic components continued throughout March. After reports of price increases from major manufacturers such as TI, NXP, and Infineon, there are also ST, Anson MPS\ Murata and other original factories quickly caught up. Compared to earlier periods, the current price increase trend has increased and expanded to more areas. IC Trading Network has also compiled the latest dynamic statistics in the following table for reference. In addition, there have been many recent developments in the industry regarding production capacity layout, which will also have a profound impact on the future supply chain landscape.

In addition to the directly disclosed trend of original factory price increases, the sharp rise in memory prices is also continuing. Multiple market research institutions have continuously raised their forecasts throughout the quarter, with the final increase far exceeding the initial estimate at the beginning of the year.

DRAM: The month on month increase in contract prices for the first quarter has been raised from an estimated 55% -60% to 90% -95% (TrendForce). Partial spot market data shows that the price of DDR4 8Gb pellets has risen by up to 369% from its 2025 low point.

NAND Flash: The month on month increase in contract prices for the first quarter has been raised from an estimated 33% -38% to 55% -60% (TrendForce). According to data from Qunzhi Consulting, the month on month increase in consumer electronics NAND flash memory has exceeded 70%.

In addition to the continued rise of mainstream memory, the sharp decline or even discontinuation of the supply of some niche important products has had a profound impact on downstream markets and application ends.

In mid March, industry news spread that the flash memory giant Kaixia had officially notified customers that it would cease production of NAND flash memory products using TSOP (Thin Small Size Package), which is mainly used for small capacity (8Gb-64Gb) flash memory chips and involves SLC and MLC storage products. The product model prefixes are TC58 and TH58. The final order deadline is September 15, 2026, and the final shipment date is March 15, 2027.

Currently, international mainstream storage manufacturers are collectively and rapidly withdrawing from the MLC market, leading to a cliff like contraction of global production capacity. After Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix gradually exit this field, Macronix is expected to become one of the few suppliers in the world that can still provide low capacity MLC/eMMC after 2028. It has reduced NOR Flash production capacity to expand MLC NAND supply.

The significant reduction in supply expectations has led to a historic surge in prices for niche storage products such as MLC flash memory, SLC NAND, and small capacity eMMC. Some categories have seen quarterly increases exceeding 100%, and even experienced several fold growth. According to institutional statistics, MLC NAND has increased by over 50% month on month, and some urgent orders have increased several times; SLC NAND has seen particularly significant growth, with some models experiencing quarterly increases several times higher; The contract price of small capacity eMMC (based on MLC NAND) has increased by as much as 100% -200% month on month. The current market is in a typical 'seller's market' state.

Recent important developments in the supply chain

STM32 Domestic Product Delivery: According to the official announcement from STMicroelectronics (ST) on March 23, 2026, the first batch of STM32 general-purpose microcontrollers manufactured locally in China has officially begun delivery and will be shipped to domestic customers one after another. ST has become the first MCU supplier in the industry to establish a global unified product standard dual supply chain system.

The first batch of STM32 wafers delivered were manufactured by Huahong Hongli (Huahong Semiconductor), using 40nm embedded non-volatile memory (eNVM) technology and quality control standards that are fully consistent with STMicroelectronics' global factories. The supply chain covers the entire process from wafer manufacturing to chip packaging and testing. The packaging and testing process is jointly completed by STMicroelectronics' own Shenzhen factory and local outsourced packaging and testing (OSAT) partners.

At present, some models of ST's STM32H7 series have already started mass production, and more models are planned to achieve mass production by the end of 2026. The STM32H5 series is planned to achieve mass production by the end of 2026. The STM32C5 series is planned to achieve mass production by the end of 2026.

ADI Thailand's new factory put into operation: Analog giant ADI officially opened its new advanced manufacturing plant located in Chumphon Province, Thailand on March 19, 2026. This is a key part of ADI's hybrid manufacturing strategy, aimed at creating a more resilient, flexible, and sustainable supply chain through a global network of internal factories, external foundries, and OSAT partners to better serve diverse markets such as industry, automotive, and communications.

Meguiar has completed the acquisition of Lijiadian Wafer Factory: Meguiar has completed the acquisition of Lijiadian's Tongluo P5 factory in Miaoli County, Taiwan, China, China, on March 16, with a transaction amount of about 1.8 billion dollars. This acquisition aims to quickly acquire the existing cleanroom, and the factory building (excluding equipment) will be used to expand advanced DRAM production capacity, including HBM. It is expected to start shipping in the 2028 fiscal year.

Elmos Semiconductor plans to sell as a whole: Elmos Semiconductor, a well-known German automotive semiconductor company, is planning to sell as a whole. The company specializes in analog mixed signal integrated circuits for automotive safety, lighting, powertrain, sensing, and motor control systems. Its wafer fab was sold to Littelfuse in 2024 and transformed into Fabless mode. The current market value of the company is about 2.3 billion euros, and the market generally believes that Germany's Infineon and the United States' Qualcomm are the two most reasonable bidders.

Denso to acquire Rohm Semiconductor: On March 24, 2026, Denso officially announced that it had proposed to acquire shares from Rohm, with an expected transaction amount of approximately 1.3 trillion yen. As an important T1 supplier in the automotive industry, Denso is accelerating its transformation towards the integration of "semiconductor+system". The acquisition of Roma aims to build a vertically integrated supply chain. ROHM is one of the few power semiconductor companies in the world with complete IDM capabilities, especially in the field of silicon carbide technology, which ranks among the top in the world.

Nvidia announces cooperation with IC giants: At the Nvidia GTC conference in March 2026, NXP and Infineon both announced their deep collaboration with Nvidia in the field of robotics. NXP and Nvidia have jointly launched an integrated robot body solution, providing chips such as application processors, MCUs, TSN switches, etc. The collaboration between NVIDIA and Infineon focuses on the architecture and safety of humanoid robot systems, with the latter providing products such as MCUs, intelligent actuators, sensors, and power semiconductors.

Overall, the core logic of recent developments in major factories is still to heavily invest in AI, with resources heavily tilted towards AI, leading to capacity crowding out and supply shortages in other fields. Combined with the fundamental increase in upstream raw material prices, this has resulted in more price hikes. The dynamic direction of ST and ADI towards supply chain diversification and resilience enhancement reflects the deepening demand for regional synergy and risk diversification in the production chain. During the process, more professional and efficient supply chain services have become a necessity.