Revenue for mobile dynamic random access memory (DRAM) rose to the highest level yet in the second quarter driven by increased bit shipments and relatively steady pricing, according to an IHS iSuppli DRAM Dynamics Brief from information and analytics provider IHS.

Mobile DRAM revenue amounted to $1.85 billion in the second quarter, up from $1.83 billion in the first quarter, as shown in the figure below.

 

“The increase marked the fourth straight quarter of growth for mobile DRAM revenue,” said Mike Howard, senior principal analyst for DRAM & memory at IHS. “This sustained growth is courtesy of the continued propulsive expansion of the smartphone and tablet markets, the two main consumers of mobile DRAM. The second quarter this year also marked a new revenue record for the segment, exceeding the peak reached in the first quarter. The achievement is notable: While the overall DRAM market is down in 2012 compared to year-ago levels, mobile DRAM revenue is trending higher.”

Mobile DRAM is the DRAM variant currently preferred for use in mobile applications, including a variety of consumer electronics devices.

In yet another sign of the mobile segment’s growing importance to the overall DRAM space, mobile DRAM commanded more than 26 percent of all DRAM revenue during the second quarter—a significant improvement from 19 percent the same time a year ago, and from 11 percent two years ago in 2010.

Two reasons account for mobile DRAM’s rising market clout. First, mobile DRAM’s share of total DRAM bit shipments is now at 17.8 percent, up from 7.9 percent in the first quarter.

Second, the price of mobile DRAM has fallen less than that of its besieged cousin, commodity DRAM. While commodity DRAM historically has been subject to great swings in pricing—with the product losing as much as half of its value from the second to the fourth quarter last year alone—mobile DRAM pricing is less vulnerable, falling 10 percent per quarter on average.