Alas, poor NOR
Preliminary results indicate that the NOR-type flash memory market experienced a disappointing first quarter, with sales declining by a larger margin than can be attributed to the normal seasonal slowdown, according to iSuppli Corp.
Global NOR flash revenue decreased to $1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2007, down 11.9 percent from $2.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2006.
This compares to an 8 percent sequential decrease in NOR flash revenue in the first quarter of 2006, which represents a more customary rate of decline during the historically slow first three months of the year.
The cumulative revenue for the Top-5 NOR suppliers in the first quarter of 2007 was $1.61 billion, whereas in the fourth quarter of 2006 it was $1.82 billion, and $1.66 billion in the first quarter of 2006.
"As the cause for the disappointing results, suppliers cited extreme price pressure on high-density NOR-type flash, which is primarily used in mobile phones," said Mark DeVoss, senior analyst for iSuppli. "All of the suppliers are hoping for a better second quarter for high-density NOR flash sales and pricing. However, while the price pressure will subside slightly in the second quarter, it is expected to persist throughout the year."
No. 4 NOR maker Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. was the only company among the Top-5 suppliers to achieve revenue growth in the first quarter, with its sales rising to $210 million, up 1.9 percent from $206 million in the fourth quarter, according to a preliminary ranking from iSuppli. This represented an all-time high for NOR revenue at the South Korean electronics giant.
Spansion Inc. remained the No. 1 NOR supplier with revenue of $628 million, down 8.6 percent from $687 million during the prior quarter. No. 2 Intel Corp. suffered the worst quarterly decline of all NOR flash suppliers, with an estimated $427 million in NOR revenue, a decrease of 19.6 percent from
$531 million during the previous quarter.
Rounding out the Top 5 were STMicroelectronics, with revenue of $277 million, down $40 million from $317 million in the fourth quarter of 2006, and Silicon Storage Technology Inc., with $68 million in sales, down $17 million from $85 million in the fourth quarter.
The table presents iSuppli¹s preliminary NOR flash rankings for the Top-5 suppliers in the first quarter of 2007.
