In another sign of the growing prominence of mobile platforms like smartphones, handheld gaming devices and tablets, revenues in the first quarter for mobile DRAM exceeded the US$2 billion level for the first time on a quarterly basis.
Global revenues for mobile DRAM hit US$2.07 billion during the first quarter of 2011, up 10% from US$1.88 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010. Showing how far the industry's revenue levels have progressed, the increase between the two quarters of about US$190 million was equivalent to almost the entire mobile DRAM market in the first quarter of 2009, when revenues amounted to just US$205 million.
Revenues for mobile DRAM in the first quarter were also up 150% from the same period of 2010.
"As mobile devices consume more memory to carry out an ever-expanding range of highly sophisticated tasks, shipments of mobile DRAM likewise are set for outstanding growth," said Ryan Chien, researcher for memory and storage . "Unit shipments and densities for mobile DRAM will increase sharply during the coming years. For example, smartphone mobile DRAM density is anticipated to grow by nearly a factor of six between 2010 and 2015. Meanwhile, density in handsets overall will increase eightfold. In terms of units, just 43% of shipped cellphones in 2010 used mobile DRAM, so plenty of opportunities remain for mobile DRAM to penetrate the handset space."
Prospects are even more bullish in the fast-growing tablet market. Given the expected proliferation of 8Gb and 16Gb chips during the next few years, mobile DRAM densities will rise by a factor of almost 14 for tablet devices. Unit shipments of mobile DRAM also can be expected to grow, given that tablet shipments are projected to multiply 15 times between 2010 and 2015.
In the handheld gaming market, mobile DRAM usage will rise during the coming years. Both the PlayStation Portable by Sony and the 3DS by Nintendo already have 64MB of mobile DRAM, and Sony's forthcoming PSP Vita handheld likely will have memory content of 256MB, similar to that of its non-handheld PlayStation 3 gaming console. The handheld gaming market ships about 30 million units annually, making for another healthy segment in which mobile DRAM can play.
The remarkable outlook for mobile DRAM has prompted a number of companies to enter the market during the last five quarters, including Taiwan-based Winbond Electronics and ProMOS Technologies. However, newcomers will find it hard to challenge the incumbent leaders like Samsung Electronics, Elpida Memory and Hynix Semiconductor, given that all three comprise almost 95% of mobile DRAM shipments and revenues.
Samsung was the top mobile DRAM manufacturer in the first quarter of 2011 with revenues of US$1.13 billion, followed by Elpida with US$434 million and Hynix with US$391 million. Far behind in fourth place was Micron Technology with US$84 million, while fifth-ranked Winbond had US$13 million and ProMOS in sixth place had just US$3 million.
The mobile DRAM market will have strong sales momentum for years to come,  with revenues likely to hit US$6.9 billion in 2011. The forecast for mobile DRAM is in direct contrast to the pallid prospects facing the general DRAM space, with annual revenues for the year projected to drop more than 10% due to slowing increases in density in PCs.