. The company had previously estimated an increase of 108 per cent in September and 93 per cent in November 2008.

DRAM Exchange attributed the revised growth rate to a significant decline in sales for devices that utilise NAND Flash chips. For example, 2009 shipments of mobile phones are expected to reach 1.16 billion units, which represents a 5.4 per cent decrease compared to 2008. According to Nokia, mobile phone shipments decreased by five per cent in 2008. Samsung and LG have also revised their 2008 mobile phone shipments, down eight and 12 per cent respectively. 

Similiarly, the 2009 digitial camera shipment forecast will likely decline to 144 million units. Canon has lowered its projections from 25 million units to 23.5 million units, while Sony has downgraded expectations from 26 million units to 24 million units. Slow demand has also affected 2009 market forecasts of MP3/PMP shipments, which are set to hover at 120 million units.

A number of industry heavyweights have been affected by the DRAM price collapse, such as Etron Technology, which recently posted staggering losses for the first three quarters of 2008. The SDRAM specialist reportedly lost $9.65 million, with negative earnings per share of NT $0.75. In addition, the company recorded a monthly revenue drop to NT $571 million, owing to a significant decline in average selling prices.

Elite Semiconductor Memory Technology (ESMT) and Zentel Electronics also posted severe losses. ESMT's October sales dropped 10.2 per cent to NT $378 million, while Zentel, a subsidary of Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC) suffered a revenue decrease to below NT $400 million.

Nevertheless, the devastated NAND market is currently showing slight signs of recovery. Prices of mainstream multi-level cell (MLC) NAND Flash and the single-level cell (SLC) segment registered a sequential gain of 1-16 per cent during the second half of December, while 8GB and 16GB chips posted a 10 and 16 per cent increase. The rising prices have been linked to significant production cuts implemented by a number of industry heavyweights.

Indeed, Toshiba recently announced a 30 per cent reduction of NAND flash memory production. The firm also confirmed plans to halt operations at its factory in Yokkaichi, western Japan. Two chip-production lines utilising 300mm wafers will close for 13 days, and a pair of 200mm lines are slated to stop production for four days. In addition, the corporation's 300mm lines in Oita that manufacture components for Sony's PlayStation 3 will cease to operate for two days in January. The Kitakyushu facility, which produces semiconductors for cars and flat-panel TVs, will shut its doors for a total of 25 days.

By: DocMemory
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