Intel Corp. has lost its No. 1 flash spot to Samsung Corp., according to an iSuppli report released this week.

Of the top 16 companies, Intel was the only player to lose market share in Q3, dropping 4 percent from Q2 to $416 million in flash revenue.

"Intel dropped from first place in the second quarter to fourth place in the third quarter with an overall flash market share of 13.5 percent," Betsy Van Hees, an iSuppli analyst, noted in a memory report. the first time that Intel has not been the number-one overall flash supplier during a quarter.""Intel remained the leader in the key market for mobile handset flash with a 28.6 percent market share, but this marks

The shakeup was because of booming demand for NAND-type flash memory in consumer electronics and other applications, in which Samsung and Toshiba compete heavily.

With that, Samsung grew 50 percent, claiming $615 million in Q3 revenue. The No. 2 player, Toshiba, outdid Samsung's growth, showing a 61 percent sequential gain for $532 million in revenue.

Toshiba's growth was still outdone by two other companies among the top 16 flash suppliers: Micron, which came in at No. 13 with 80 percent growth and $18 million in revenue, and Atmel, which ranked in at No. 11 with 161 percent growth and $36.6 million in Q3 revenue.

Spansion, which was formed from the merger of the NOR-type flash suppliers Advanced Micro Devices and Fujitsu, took third place with a 13.8 percent share. "The newly formed Spansion became the number-one NOR flash supplier in the third quarter, surpassing fellow NOR supplier Intel," Van Hees said.

Overall, total flash units increased by 17.8 percent to 650 million, up from 551 million in Q2, Van Hees said. After multiple consecutive quarterly declines in overall flash average selling prices (ASP), ASPs increased to $4.73 in Q3, up by 7.9 percent from $4.38 in Q2.

NAND unit shipments in the third quarter increased by 30 percent, to 132 million units, while bit growth skyrocketed by 76.6 percent compared to Q2, iSuppli estimated. The NAND market generated $1.1 billion in revenue during the quarter, up 53 percent from $719.9 million in Q2.

"It wasn't only the NAND market that benefited from the rise in consumer spending," Van Hees said.  "Strong sales of feature-rich mobile handsets requiring high-density NOR flash, as well as the healthy demand for STBs, DVD players, and a host of other consumer products boosted NOR flash sales in the second quarter."
 
NOR flash sales increased 16 percent on revenue of $1.97 billion, while unit shipments increased to 518 million, up 15 percent, according to the firm. 

"This spike in demand has benefited the NOR flash suppliers," the analyst continued. "As inventories have been depleted and lead times have extended, the NOR flash suppliers have been given the long-awaited opportunity to raise prices."

ISuppli predicted that sales of both NOR and NAND will extend their gains in Q4 with holiday season spending.

Flash revenues, iSuppli predicts, will increase by 12.3 percent sequentially and 42 percent year-over-year to reach $3.5 billion in Q4.

"Total flash sales will reach $11.2 billion for all of 2003," Van Hees said. "However, the race for flash supremacy for all of 2003 is far from over. Developments in the fourth quarter will determine which of the third quarter’s top-four players will take the number-one position for the entire year."

By: DocMemory
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