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Fire at Hynix DRAM focused factory (40-50% of Hynix's DRAM output, supply ok)

S

Subv3rsi0n

Member
Rayge said:
This sounds really fishy seeing as how events like this jack the prices of hardware up.
Click to expand...

Yes, I'm sure that they burned down their factory, incurring millions in damage, to increase prices on the goods that they can now only create at half capacity.
 
M

maabus1999

Member
Subv3rsi0n said:
Yes, I'm sure that they burned down their factory, incurring millions in damage, to increase prices on the goods that they can now only create at half capacity.
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Not to mention if this plant was making the more rare GDDR5 and possibly upcoming DDR4 chips...


Lets sink the whole market for an insurance claim!
 
T

Tarazet

Member
Dinzy said:
I hope nothing but their equipment got destroyed and they have to retool.

(I work in R&D for Semiconductor Capital equipment )
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Same field, but I'm on the sales side. Not in AP region, though. We sold a few new tools after the typhoon in Thailand took out operations at WD and Seagate.
 
C

Captain Tuttle

Member
maabus1999 said:
Can't 100% lock in a price for events out of a companies control in contracts. Always a clause to get out.
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Exactly, there's always a way. Ever heard of "fuel surcharges"? Price of fuel goes up past what the carrier has budgeted for, customer pays. Happens all the time in the airline industry.

Rayge said:
This sounds really fishy seeing as how events like this jack the prices of hardware up.
Click to expand...
Or they could just cut back on production, that happens all the time as well
 
B

beast786

Member
maabus1999 said:
Because we don't know the effects yet, it will start with 1st order effects first (other DRAM suppliers) who are seeing huge swings in stock prices upwards.

2nd order effects will come later (usually a warning from said companies just like in the HDD issue from Thailand).
Click to expand...


Agreed. but stock market incorporate news before it happens. the stock doesn't go down on news ,it goes down on rumors. Seeing it hasn't budge is very indifferent if this had or even could have any supply effect to the mention companies
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
DopeyFish said:
DDR3 isn't a big deal, the rest of the market should be able to compensate

But GDDR5? If that was a major GDDR5 fab? Oh man. Trouble.
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Samsung, Mircon and Hynix can manufacture RAM that Sony needs.

Not all is lost, even if Sony's supply has been damaged with today's Xbone overclock fire. :D If ram gets more expensive, Sony will eat that price [maybe even trough contract negotiations with Hynix], but if they physically cent get their hands on enough chips... that will be problematic.
 
M

maabus1999

Member
DieH@rd said:
Samsung, Mircon and Hynix can manufacture RAM that Sony needs.

Not all is lost, even if Sony's supply has been damaged with today's Xbone overclock fire. :D If ram gets more expensive, Sony will eat that price [maybe even trough contract negotiations with Hynix], but if they physically cent get their hands on enough chips... that will be problematic.
Click to expand...

I don't think Micron produces the type of chips necessary in the PS4 (No GDDR on their product lists that I can find). Samsung may though.

Samsung makes this part: K4G41325FC that may work in the PS4 but I'm not sure (I'm assuming they are going with two 4GB GDDR5 arrays). However, who knows how much supply there is, and Sony isn't the only consumer of these chips (and with AMD's new cards coming out, it will only get tighter).

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/product/graphic-dram/catalogue

EDIT: To compare against Hynix's 4GB module: http://www.skhynix.com/products/gra....serialNo=H5GC(Q)4H24MFR&posMap=graphicsGDDR5
 
M

Midas

Member
I do wonder how many chipset Sony got their hands on already. If they stock pile for months of manufacturing or if it's very planned.
 
S

satori

Member
That fire looks intense. Glad no one was seriously hurt. Will be interesting to learn how a fire like that get started in the first place.

Looks like sony should use their Vita memory factories to start pumping out some RAM for the ps4. Its not like its running at full capacity to meet demands!
not serious
 
M

maabus1999

Member
Midas said:
I do wonder how many chipset Sony got their hands on already. If they stock pile for months of manufacturing or if it's very planned.
Click to expand...

GDDR5 and DRAM as a whole has had supply shortages this year due to demand, so I doubt they have a huge inventory built up. Maybe a 1 to 2 months of inventory.
 
S

satori

Member
In all seriousness, price should increase for everyone. When a major player gets hits this hard, the effect will be felt everywhere. Directly or indirectly it should hurt. Question is how much will it hurt and for how long...
 
M

maabus1999

Member
Those fire pictures though, if real, are amazing. Still amazed this didn't cause more issues.

Also, fire occurred during "equipment installation" is pretty vague. Wonder what equipment they were installing that blew up like that, if it wasn't in the manufacturing area.
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
DopeyFish said:
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSL2N0H013R20130904?irpc=932

They don't expect much delays

Crisis averted

End thread
Click to expand...

aww-yiss-owl.gif
 
W

Wind's Howling

Member
South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc said on Wednesday a fire at its Wuxi, China, plant caused no "material" damage to critical chip-fabrication equipment, and it expects to resume production shortly.
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Seeing that fire on the pictures I think it is safe to assume they were very lucky.
 
S

satori

Member
If they don't increase/install some better safety measure after this...I would be highly surprised. Actually after reading that the clean room was not affected makes me think they do have something in place, that or the fire was never near it. Regardless, whew. Those pictures look like the whole damn place burned down.
 
V

Valkyr Junkie

Member
shakin_haitian said:
Whew, I'm relieved. There's nothing more trustworthy than a PR guy waving his hands and telling everyone to not panic.
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Is there an SEC equivalent in SK? If so, I would imagine saying production is only being halted temporarily when the truth is several months wouldn't go over well with investors.
 
Q

QaaQer

Member
satori said:
If they don't increase/install some better safety measure after this...I would be highly surprised. Actually after reading that the clean room was not affected makes me think they do have something in place, that or the fire was never near it. Regardless, whew. Those pictures look like the whole damn place burned down.
Click to expand...

I was reading up on the factory, and it actually is pretty decent, wouldn't be out of place in S.Korea, so I was wrong about a lack of safety standards there.

M8 + M11 make nand+cmos components+packaging of the silicon. M12 was build mainly for nand but can be quickly retooled for dram.

Anyway, I don't believe that factory was going to be a source of the new higher density GDDR chips.

oh, and western tech sites seem to be all about the clickbait.
 
R

razgriz417

Member
Reuters article was updated

UPDATE 1-Hynix says fire did not cripple China chip-making plant

"Currently, there is no material damage to the fab equipment in the clean room, thus we expect to resume operations in a short time period so that overall production and supply volume would not be materially affected," company representative Seongae Park said in a statement.

"In addition, we expect that the majority of damage will be covered through insurance."

The fire started at around 0750 GMT during chip equipment installation and was extinguished in less than two hours, the company said. The incident caused one minor injury, it said, adding that it is still assessing exact damages.
Click to expand...

"While there are some pictures of the fab surrounded by large dark smoke being circulated, please be informed that the damage is not as severe as it seems," Park said.

"The smoke was created because the fire was concentrated in the air purification facilities that are linked to the rooftop of the fab."
Click to expand...
 
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