The winners--or those that gained share in Q1: Samsung, Micron, Powerchip, ProMOS.

The losers--or those that lost share in Q1: Hynix, Elpida, Nanya, Winbond.

In the rankings for Q1, Samsung was first, followed in order by Hynix, Elpida, Micron, Powerchip, Nanya, Winbond, ProMOS, Toshiba and Etron.

''Taiwan's ProMOS Technologies and Powerchip Semiconductor saw the biggest revenue increase in the quarter as they moved back to full utilization and, in the case of Powerchip, transitioned to Elpida's 65-nm XS technology,'' said Andrew Norwood, an analyst with Gartner, in a report. ''Powerchip's strong performance means that it took the No. 5 ranking from Taiwanese rival Nanya Technology. Nanya's weak performance is a result of low utilization rates at its fabs as the company moves to Micron's 40-nm process.''

Overall, business is strong. ''Gartner's preliminary 1Q10 DRAM market share numbers show that overall market revenue was up 10 percent quarter over quarter to $9.5 billion and up an amazing 165 percent compared with the same period last year. This is the highest quarterly revenue in three years,'' Norwood said.

''Bit growth in the quarter showed a marked slowdown on the previous quarter, up 5.9 percent versus the previous quarterly growth of 17.5 percent,'' he said. ''Higher pricing held back stronger content growth in the PC, thus leading to the slower demand growth. Pricing in the quarter was up 4 percent, again lower than the previous quarter's growth of 20 percent.''

Shortages of DRAM memory chips are on the horizon and closing fast, according to market research firm Semico Research Corp., which said ramifications of slowed manufacturing capacity output and a lack of capital expenditure over the past 24 months, combined with increased demand driven by a hot PC market, has resulted in a very positive environment for DRAM pricing.

Capital expenditure by DRAM makers will increase by 80 percent year-on-year to $7.85 billion in 2010, according to DRAMexchange Technology Inc., a Taiwan-based market analysis company. The company estimated the DRAM makers will spend $4.30 billion in 2009.

Rankings table

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved