Mobile DRAM soars but flash memory shipments are down

SALES GROWTH of mobile devices is helping to reshape the landscape in the memory market, say analysts.

Research firm IHS said that shipments of mobile DRAM chips have continued to climb despite a trend downwards in the larger flash memory market.

The company said that mobile chip revenues hit some $1.85bn last quarter after posting a $1.83bn mark in the previous quarter. Samsung was the top seller with 61 per cent market share, followed by Hynix and Elpida.

Analysts noted that the growth in mobile DRAM indicates a remarkable shift is underway in the DRAM market.

While mobile sales accounted for just 19 per cent of the overall memory market revenues a year ago, IHS said that last quarter mobile took a 26 per cent share of the total memory market.

"This sustained growth is courtesy of the continued propulsive expansion of the smartphone and tablet markets, the two main consumers of mobile DRAM," said IHS DRAM and memory senior principal analyst Mike Howard.

"The second quarter this year also marked a new revenue record for the segment, exceeding the peak reached in the first quarter."

While mobile DRAM was up, flash memory as a whole was down. IHS reported that sales of NAND and NOR chips are projected to hit just $24.3bn this year, a decline of 4.7 per cent from the previous year.

The company does, however, believe that the market will bounce back. Analysts forecast that the market will pick back up next year and grow at an 11.4 per cent clip on the back of continued mobile growth. It said that by 2016 the total flash memory market could claim upwards of $33bn in annual revenues. µ

This article was originally published on V3.