DRAM makers still going south in Q1 2008

Global semiconductor market revenue grew 3.3% in 2007, iSuppli says, lower than the firm's 4.1% estimate in November. For the quarter, semi revenues fell 0.5%, but were up 2.4% excluding memory.

Worldwide DRAM revenue fell 19.1% sequentially in the fourth quarter, below the November estimate of a 4.7% drop. NAND flash revenue declined 3.9%. Overall, memory chip revenue fell 11% sequentially. Many of the major DRAM and flash suppliers such as Qimonda, Elpida, Spansion, Powerchip and Nanya are no longer part of IC Insights' top 20 semiconductor ranking. DRAM-supplier Qimonda, whose nightmare continued in Q1 as the company dropped 10 positions from 19th overall in 2007 to 29th in Q1 based on a 52% sales decline year-over-year. Memory suppliers Hynix (9^th place) and Micron (15^th place) each fell two spots in the ranking although Micron reported a 2% increase in year-over-year sales while Hynix dropped 35%.

Sources:
Poor Memory Hampers 2007 Growth
iSuppli Corp, March 2008
Many major memory suppliers out of top 20 semi supplier ranking