NOR market forecast to decline by 15% in 2005
Sales of NOR flash memory could fall below NAND flash sales for the first time in 2005, according to the latest forecast from Semico Research. The US-based body says that an oversupply problem will cause NOR revenues, having already fallen sharply in 2004, to drop by a further 15% in 2005 as a result of collapsing prices. At the same time, a supply shortage is pushing up NAND prices. Although the NOR market is expected to recover once the current oversupply declines, it could slip below NAND.
“Semico expects to see a correction in the second half of 2005 that will reverse 2004s sharp NOR price decline, a decline that started with a mid- 2004 supply/demand imbalance,” said Semico director Jim Handy. “Unit and megabyte demand are still solid, so 2005s revenue decline will largely be offset by growth in 2006.”
Semico is forecasting the NOR market will return to growth in 2006 with revenues predicted to approach $9 billion in 2006, before peaking at more than $12 billion in 2008. NOR is used in widespread applications, ranging from PCs and peripherals through myriad consumer electronics devices and into the automotive and telecom spaces, driving this pervasive technology to grow in accord with the penetration of electronics into our lives. The leading NOR suppliers include Intel, Spansion, Sharp, STMicro, Renesas, SST, Atmel and Macronix.
