Hynix creates a wave in the DRAM market with remarkable Q4 performance
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. created a stir in the DRAM market with a remarkable increase in shipments causing it to rise to the second rank for both the fourth quarter and for all of 2006, up from third previously, according to a preliminary ranking from iSuppli Corp.
Hynix’s DRAM bit shipments surged by 31 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the third, blowing out the expectations of iSuppli and of the market in general. In comparison, worldwide DRAM bit shipments for all companies increased by just 14 percent during the same period.
This dramatic increase in shipments caused the South Korean company's revenue to surge to $2.1 billion in the fourth quarter, up 42.9 percent from $1.4 billion in the third quarter, according to iSuppli’s preliminary ranking. This was the highest rate of revenue increase among all DRAM suppliers in the fourth quarter, with the next-fastest grower—Elpida Memory Inc. of Japan—seeing a rise of only 28 percent.
Hynix's share of global DRAM revenue increased to 19.2 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 15.8 percent in the third quarter. This propelled Hynix past Qimonda AG to take the second rank in DRAM for the quarter.
Hynix’s record fourth quarter also pushed the company into the second DRAM rank for the entire year. The company accounted for a 16.6 percent share of DRAM revenue for all of 2006, putting it behind only market leader Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. in the global DRAM business.
“Hynix’s success was due to its aggressive migration to 80 nanometre process technology and its fast ramp up of its Wuxi fab in China,” said Nam Hyung Kim, director and principal analyst for iSuppli.
The table below and attached presents iSuppli’s preliminary ranking of DRAM suppliers in the fourth quarter and for all of 2006.
