MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The DRAM market will
decline sharply this year. According to IDC, total DRAM revenue will reach
$23.8 billion in 2001, a revenue decrease of 18% and severe 46% price erosion
compared with 2000.
"The DRAM market suffers from a combination of sluggish demand in the PC
industry and a harsh inventory correction in the overall supply chain," said
Soo Kyoum Kim, manager for IDC's semiconductor program. "Inventory carryover
will continue to plague demand and supply conditions until the middle of the
third quarter, making it difficult to maintain current pricing levels.
Seasonal price recovery is expected by the end of the third quarter, but will
not be strong enough to turn the negative momentum of the market."
According to IDC, the average DRAM content per PC will reach 174MB -- a
36% bit growth over 2000 -- as a result of price elasticity. This will push
overall bit demand growth in 2001 to 56% while supply will grow by 52%.
Despite the small gap, lingering inventories, limited memory budgets of PC
OEMs, and the lack of a new OS to drive more hungry applications on PCs will
still remain as the key inhibitors to demand.
Because the prices of all standard products are approaching or have
already reached below production cost, migrating to the next-generation
processes will be critical for suppliers to remain competitive. Memory
suppliers will also be more tactical this year as they support broader and
more profitable interface products such as EDO (extended data out), PC66/100
SDRAM, DDR (double data rate), and Rambus. The mainstream 128Mb market will be
the major battleground this year as suppliers shuffle for market share to
hedge against price erosion.
"The DRAM industry has already lost the momentum to sustain positive
revenue growth this year and in 2002, as the market enters an earlier-than-
expected bust cycle. The stage is set for another market restructuring, with
the winners and losers clearly being identified over the next year," Kim said.
IDC's report, Worldwide DRAM Demand and Supply, 2000-2001 (IDC #B23114),
examines the short-term DRAM market conditions by providing an extensive
analysis on the major demand trends, MB per system growth by application,
supplier's volume run rates, and product strategies, and gives our short-term
outlook on price trends. The report also provides market insight to all market
participants by illustrating feasible scenarios for the DRAM market this year.
To purchase this report, please contact Patrick Steeves at 1-800-343-4952
extension 6787 or psteeves@idc.com.
About IDC
IDC is the foremost global market intelligence and advisory firm helping
clients gain insight into technology and ebusiness trends to develop sound
business strategies. Using a combination of rigorous primary research, in-
depth analysis, and client interaction, IDC forecasts worldwide markets and
trends to deliver dependable service and client advice. More than 700 analysts
in 43 countries provide global research with local content. IDC's customers
comprise the world's leading IT suppliers, IT organizations, ebusiness
companies and the financial community. Additional information can be found at
http://www.idc.com.
IDC is a division of IDG, the world's leading IT media, research and
exposition company.
All product and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks
of their respective holders.
SOURCE IDC
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Related links:
http://www.idc.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/113987.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 113987
CONTACT:
Soo Kyoum Kim, 82-2-551-4382, skim@idcap.com,
or Jim Cantore, 650-962-6214, jcantore@idc.com, both of IDC
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