Sources from the memory industry in Taiwan have indicated that SanDisk is approaching customers for possible sales of NAND flash in wafer or die form. The strategy is said to be driven by sluggish demand that has aggravated inventory pressure at SanDisk, the sources explained.
SanDisk started approaching some memory module houses in August, the sources said. Customer feedback will depend on how SanDisk prices the wafers/dies, they expected.
High inventory levels at SanDisk are said to the major reason. SanDisk mentioned that its inventory turnover averaged at nine weeks during its second-quarter investor conference, prompting aggressive price cuts in the third quarter.
The sources noted that SanDisk has not experienced such a heavy inventory pressure before. When the NAND flash industry was on the up, SanDisk even had to source NAND flash from Hynix Semiconductor and Samsung Electronics. But the supply from its own fab has already outpaced demand during the current industry dip, they added.
