Winbond Posts Record Q1 Profit Above NT$10 Billion as AI Demand Drives Memory Prices, Production Shift

Winbond Electronics is a major Taiwanese memory-chip maker whose products include specialty DRAM and NOR Flash. Generative AI is boosting demand for server memory, crowding out capacity for traditional PCs and pushing up prices. Winbond's ability to redirect production toward higher-value applications is therefore critical to its profit mix and the competitiveness of Taiwan's memory supply chain.

In the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, Winbond's gross margin rose to a record 53.4%, while net profit exceeded NT$10 billion. President Pei-Ming Chen said AI demand had made capacity extremely tight. The company is shifting its production focus from PCs to server and AI applications and investing in research and development of CUBE, a customized high-bandwidth memory technology.