Global DRAM revenues during the first three months of 2011 amounted to US$8.3 billion, lower than the US$9 billion anticipated. The first-quarter total represented a 5.6% decline from US$8.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The weak result came as the result of softer-than-expected ASPs, which averaged US$1.61 during the first quarter compared to the expected US$1.89. One year ago in the first quarter of 2010, DRAM revenues were even higher at US$9.4 billion, and ASPs then also occupied a loftier perch at US$2.78.
"Buffeted by weak market conditions, companies across the DRAM space saw their revenues contract across the board in the first quarter of this year,""For the Top-8 DRAM companies – together responsible for 98.1% of the total industry – revenue in the first quarter this year fell for every single player, although the rankings held steady."
Maintaining its formidable lead at the top was Samsung Electronics. Although DRAM revenues for the South Korea-based electronics giant fell to US$3.3 billion in the first quarter, down from US$3.6 billion in the fourth quarter last year, Samsung still accounted for 39.3% of the DRAM market. That market share is down from 41.3% at the end of last year, and the first-quarter decline in 2011 marks the end of four consecutive quarters of market share gain for the company.
But even with two points shaved off, Samsung's share still is nearly double that of its nearest competitor and leagues ahead of the rest. If history is any indicator, Samsung is poised for a strong rebound following its first-quarter decline. After Samsung's previous two sequential declines in revenues – in the first quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2009 – the company experienced a period of robust growth. Samsung's next move is likely to be another all-out grab for DRAM market share.
Samsung's slight loss of market share at the top redounded to the benefit of the four players that saw their share rise during the first quarter, even though each firm's revenues declined like everyone else.
Elpida Memory and Micron Technology in 2011 are likely to swing back and forth battling for the number three market share spot, said IHS. Neither, however, appears ready to challenge Hynix for second place in the near future. For Hynix Semiconductor, which had the smallest decline in quarterly revenues among the Top-8, the company's share in the first quarter was also its highest ever.
Holding down the fifth, sixth and seventh spots were the Taiwan-based DRAM makers Nanya Technology, Powerchip Technology and ProMOS Technologies, respectively.