Investing.com — Amble Electronics reported record-breaking first quarter results driven by severe memory chip shortages, with revenue climbing five times year-over-year and 20-30% quarter-over-quarter, according to Kevin Wang, the company’s global vice president of sales.
The approved independent chip distributor, which handles analog, microcontroller and discrete chips, saw strength concentrated in January and February as tight supply conditions persisted for memory products and Nexperia components. Activity slowed in late March as manufacturer price increases prompted customers to pull forward orders into the first quarter.
Memory products dominated the supply crunch, with shortages affecting DDR4, DDR5, NOR flash, solid-state drives and hard drives. Open-market pricing for DDR5 reached approximately 10 times contract pricing at points during the quarter, with only well-funded customers able to secure products. Wang said memory-related shortages accounted for roughly 70% of supply constraints.
Contract pricing resets entering the second quarter show increases of 15-20%, though spot market prices are expected to move closer to contract levels.
Multiple chip manufacturers including Infineon, STMicroelectronics, NXP Semiconductors, Analog Devices and ON Semiconductor implemented price increases, triggering customer pull-ins to lock in pricing before hikes took effect. Wang noted Analog Devices implemented multiple increases and cancelled backlog and contract pricing based on profitability considerations, while Texas Instruments and Microchip Technology have not announced price increases.
Second quarter activity has softened following the first quarter pull-forward, with customer behavior shifting from urgent buying to defined price targets, potentially reflecting improved manufacturer support and availability.
Wang said traditional markets including automotive, industrial and consumer electronics face capacity constraints as manufacturers prioritize higher-margin opportunities in artificial intelligence and data centers. The distributor is also seeing increased CPU flow for Intel i5 and AMD processors due to reduced allocation into China.
Wang does not expect memory supply tightness to fully resolve in 2026, citing continued capacity discipline and manufacturer incentives to maintain elevated pricing, though he noted memory shortages typically do not persist beyond one year.
This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.
Read the full article here
