Company News

CEO Update 9/21: A roller coaster ride

21/09/2021 by Silvio Muschter

Looking back at the flash memory market over the last 18 months seems like a roller coaster ride to me. Owing to a combination of Covid 19, geopolitical factors and several black swan events, the industry is experiencing an unprecedented surge in demand for electronic components that has led to a global supply shortage in 2021. So the ride isn’t over, is it?

For Swissbit it’s a matter of course to provide our customers with the best possible support in these challenging times and an expression for a trustworthy partnership. That’s why we have always emphasized securing our supply chains through long-term partnerships and becoming a reliable partner. Nevertheless, in light of the current market conditions we are further intensifying our efforts with concrete measures to cushion the effects of the global bottlenecks. So what does that mean?

”We are continuously working with both customers and suppliers to support upside demand wherever possible or to recommend alternative products wherever applicable.”

From a market perspective, first signs of a relaxation in the NAND flash market can be expected in the first half of 2022. However, we anticipate an ongoing shortage of NAND controllers throughout 2022. Therefore, we are maintaining close relationships with our controller suppliers and are able to rely on a solid alternative source using the capacities of Hyperstone. As you probably know, Hyperstone has been part of the Swissbit family since the beginning of this year, which means that both our customers and Swissbit benefit from a local, European supply chain in terms of flash controllers.

Furthermore, we are keeping one-step ahead by maintaining high inventories, solid order books and forecasts with all of our suppliers. We are keeping in close communication with our key suppliers with regular update calls and allocation meetings. Moreover, we are working hard to expand our product portfolio to offer product alternatives with better availability in the mid-term, as alternative products are a valid hedge against shortage of mainstream products.

Despite the challenging situation we are all faced with, I’m happy to confidently say that Swissbit is well positioned to meet forecast and booked orders from our customers. However, as part of our company's philosophy, our communication always remains open and transparent. As an example, this means that we do not communicate delivery dates until we are 100 % sure that we can meet them. We are continuously working with both customers and suppliers to support upside demand wherever possible or to recommend alternative products wherever applicable.

So despite this roller coaster ride not being over yet, at Swissbit we want to ensure making the ride as safe as possible – as a trustworthy partner you can rely on. swissbit