Driven by continued demand for smartphones, tablets, and other personal media devices, the total flash memory market, consisting of NAND and NOR, is forecast to grow 2% to US$30.4 billion in 2012, surpassing the US$28.0 billion DRAM market in sales for the first time, according to IC Insights.

With the exception of 2010, the DRAM and flash memory markets have been growing closer in size to each other for several years, IC Insights said. Demand for flash used in portable media devices, coupled with two years of weaker demand and price erosion for commodity DRAM used in personal computers, will finally be enough to push total flash sales beyond those for DRAM in 2012, IC Insights indicated.

Among portable media devices, smartphone shipments are projected to finish the year 2012 up 55% to 750 million units, and shipments of tablets are forecast to rise 80% to 117 million units, IC Insights noted.

Through 2017, the flash memory market is expected to widen its lead over DRAM, IC Insights believes. The NAND flash memory market alone will be larger than the DRAM market beginning in 2013, IC Insights estimated.

Among more than 30 product segments classified by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), NAND flash is forecast to have the third-highest average annual growth rate through 2017, trailing only the market growth rates for tablet processors and handset application processors, IC Insights said. NAND flash sales are set to increase 14% annually from 2012-2017, growing to US$53.2 billion at the end of the forecast period while the DRAM market is forecast to grow 9% annually over the same time.