The economic recovery has translated into a sales rebound for the long-suffering NOR-type flash memory market, similar to the momentum the overall memory market is enjoying, according to iSuppli. Overall NOR revenues in the fourth quarter of 2009 amounted to US$1.23 billion, up 0.7% from US$1.22 billion in the third quarter.

"This marks the third consecutive quarter of sequential growth for the market, after revenues dipped to less than US$1 billion during the dismal first three months of 2009," said Michael Yang, senior analyst for memory and storage at iSuppli. "NOR flash revenues in the fourth quarter was boosted by demand from multiple consumer products, including LCD TVs, cell phones and computers. Demand was so strong that NOR was in a state of shortage for most densities."

However, the fourth-quarter growth was not spread evenly among the NOR suppliers, and there were distinct winners and losers, according to iSuppli. Specifically, Numonyx and Macronix were the big winners, being the only companies among the top-5 suppliers to achieve sequential growth in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Numonyx, which assumed the mantle as the No.1 provider of NOR flash memory in the third quarter of 2009, cemented its position in the fourth quarter. The company's NOR flash revenues grew to US$434 million in the fourth quarter, up 7.2% from US$405 million in the third. This resulted in a commanding 35.4% share of the total NOR flash market, up from 33.3% in the prior quarter.

"As Spansion continues to restructure itself after filing for bankruptcy - and moves away from investing heavily in the wireless segment -Numonyx has been able to step in and garner design wins from disaffected former Spansion customers," Yang said. "Obviously, this success is part of the reason companies looked to Numonyx as a possible acquisition target. With a pending acquisition ahead, this should solve the potential problems Numonyx might have had with production capacity issues."

Macronix also had an excellent fourth quarter. The company generated US$128 million in NOR revenues, up 4.1% from US$123 million in the third quarter. Macronix was the top beneficiary of the renewed spending on consumer electronics products and PCs, iSuppli noted.

Macronix has doubled its market share since 2008 to 10.4% of the total NOR flash market and continues to find success with its serial NOR products in the embedded space, iSuppli indicated. The company has a number of serial products in the pipeline that should continue to fuel its profits in the embedded space.

iSuppli believes that the industry has been poised to reinvent itself, evident by the recent acquisitions of SST and Numonyx, . This spells opportunity for those companies with the right products and strategies to further distance themselves from the pack.