DRAM module market growing, says IHS
The market will continue to expand over the next four years but at 8, 6, 9 and then 4 percent in 2012 through 2015, respectively, IHS-iSuppli said.
In 2011 63 percent of DRAM modules, equivalent to 510.4 million units, will be from original equipment manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. who not only make the modules for their own use but also sell to other computer manufacturers.
The second largest group, accounting for 19 percent, or 155 million units, in 2011, will be DRAM modules from third-party suppliers that sell to computer companies which then include the memory packages in their computers. The remaining 18 percent of the DRAM module market in 2011, equivalent to 147.3 million units, will come in the form of upgrade modules, sold by third-party suppliers into the retail channel.
When added together, both white-box and upgrade modules constitute the third-party DRAM module market, valued at $10.6 billion in 2010. The biggest third-party DRAM module maker last year was Kingston Technology, which enjoyed revenue of $4.9 billion—nearly half of the entire third-party market.
Among all channels DDR3 format modules are the dominant technology, according to Clifford Leimbach, analyst for memory demand forecasting at IHS. While the older and slower DDR2 ruled the module landscape from 2006 to 2009, DDR3 now has taken over and likely will remain at the top for about five years. The next-generation DDR4, whose standards have not been finalized, is expected to become the major DRAM module density in the second quarter of 2015.
Average DRAM content this year is expected to rise steadily every quarter, mounting from 3.7-Gbytes in the first quarter to 4.69-Gbytes in the fourth. Next year, DRAM density in PCs will start on average at the 5-Gbytes level. On an annual basis the average DRAM content for PCs is expected to rise 30 percent in 2011, to be followed by 36 percent growth in 2012.
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