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DRAM market growth set to slow in 2005

ISuppli believes that NAND flash could be the strongest memory growth sector this year.
The market for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) will grow "much" slower in 2005 than the 51% expansion achieved in 2004, according to new figures from market analyst iSuppli. The Californian-based company is also predicting that growth in NAND flash sales will outstrip that of DRAM next year. NAND flash - a type of memory commonly used in mass storage devices such as digital cameras and MP3 players - is less expensive to produce than NOR (a rival memory).

An iSuppli spokesman said that NAND is an "attractive" market for DRAM makers to enter at present. "DRAM makers can easily switch production capacity to NAND and [when market conditions change] back to DRAM, maximising profitability.

The biggest player in the notoriously cut-throat DRAM market, according to iSuppli’s figures, is South Korean chaebol Samsung, with a 28.8% market share in 2004 (up 0.2%).

Hynix - also of South Korea - has pipped US firm Micron to second spot in the market, thanks to an impressive 68.3% surge in DRAM sales in 2004, increasing its market share to 16.4% (up 1.7%). Although Micron boosted DRAM sales by 27.3% in 2004, its market share slipped back to 16.1% from 19.1%. Europe’s Infineon is the fourth largest DRAM maker with a 14.3% share.

The best performer during 2004 was Taiwanese company Powerchip Semiconductor Corp, which increased DRAM sales by a remarkable 164.1% in 2004.

The company is now Taiwan’s largest DRAM manufacturer. Japan’s Elpida Memory also had a good 2004, boosting DRAM sales by 122.8%, making it one of the top five DRAM manufacturers in the world.

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