Samsung increases lead in DRAM market
South Korean giant takes 45 per cent share in wake of Thai floods
Samsung increased its lead on its DRAM market rivals in the third quarter to 45 per cent despite tough economic conditions, increased competition and constraints on global component facilities, according to an IHS iSuppli market brief.
The vendor's DRAM revenue declined 8.9 per cent quarter on quarter to $3.05bn (£1.95bn), but its market share rose 3.5 per cent, according to IHS iSuppli's principal analyst for DRAM and memory, Mike Howard.
"Samsung perennially has the DRAM industry's largest capital expenditure budget, allowing it to reduce costs and offer advanced products more quickly than the competition," Howard said, adding that because of this the Korean vendor was better able to absorb the overall DRAM ASP fall in Q3 of 26 per cent.
The DRAM market as a whole has been suffering from rising levels of debt, falling demand for PCs, and reduced prices. The October floods in Thailand have also constrained the global manufacture of PCs – the primary use of DRAM – at a number of leading fabrication plants.
Despite the market conditions, the South Korean vendor continued to steadily eat up more of the market. Samsung took 28 per cent of sales in 2007, 30 per cent in 2008, 34 per cent in 2009 and 37 per cent in 2010, according to the US-based analyst.
"Samsung's ASP fell just 17 per cent during the quarter," Howard said.
Pricing has been "extraordinarily weak" in the DRAM market, which is now worth just $6.8bn, down from $8.1bn in Q2 2011, said Howard.
Second-placed Hynix also lost share, earning just $1.5bn in Q3, as did third-placed vendor Elpida.
Japan-based Elpida saw shipments go up but also suffered from a sharp rise in the value of the yen that meant revenue fell to $0.82bn in Q3 from Q2's $1.3bn.
Number-four DRAM maker, US-based Micron Technology, performed better than Samsung in Q3. It saw revenue fall just 3.8 per cent from the previous quarter and market share rise 12.1 per cent, up from 10.6 per cent in Q2.