Samsung retained its perch at the top of the DRAM heap as last year came to a close, with seven other companies fighting for the remaining three-fifths of the market, as shown in the attached table.
Samsung recorded $3.6 billion from DRAM sales in the fourth quarter, according to a report from researcher IHS iSuppli, as the South Korean conglomerate grew its market share by 1 percentage point over the third quarter to 41.7%.
The overall market for DRAM was $8.7 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $10.7 billion in the third quarter. Samsung’s positive performance was in direct contrast to a declining DRAM market, in which average selling prices (ASP) tumbled more than 28 percent in the final quarter of 2010, IHS iSuppli research shows.
Hynix Semiconductor of South Korea (HXSCF, 000660.SE) held the No. 2 spot with a roughly 22% market share, unchanged for eight straight quarters, while Japan’s Elpida Memory Inc. (6665.TO) came in third with a 13% share despite a 35% revenue drop.
No. 2 Hynix Semiconductor of South Korea, which has held approximately 22.0 percent market share for eight consecutive quarters; and third-ranked Elpida Memory Inc. of Japan, which suffered the biggest drop in revenue in the fourth quarter, down 35 percent to $1.1 billion and 13.0 percent share.
Shifts in DRAM market share will occur in 2011, IHS believes.
Prices for the DRAM used in computers have been pressured of late, while the market for specialized mobile DRAM is expected to dramatically increase 71% this year, carried by growing demand for increasingly fast and versatile mobile phones and tablet readers, IHS iSuppli said last week.
(아주경제 이수지 기자)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com