Second Quarter 2008 NAND Rankings

  

1. Micron Bucks Weak NAND Market Conditions, Closes Gap with Hynix in Q2 August 19, 2008 Micron Technology Inc. in the second quarter narrowed its NAND flash memory market-share gap with Hynix Semiconductor Inc., setting the stage for a battle for the industry’s third rank this year, according to iSuppli Corp. U.S-based Micron in the second quarter sold $300 million worth of NAND flash memory, up 11.9 percent from $268 million in the first quarter, the largest percentage and revenue growth of the Top-7 suppliers ranked by iSuppli. Micron’s industry-leading performance was all the more remarkable given the generally weak conditions in the NAND flash market in the second quarter. Global NAND flash memory revenue declined to $3.36 billion in the second quarter, down 2.5 percent from $3.45 billion in the first quarter. Five of the Top-7 NAND suppliers posted either declines or zero growth in revenue compared to the first quarter. No.-4 ranked Micron’s share of global NAND revenue market increased to 8.9 percent in the second quarter, up from 7.8 percent in the first. Micron in the second quarter trailed No.-3 ranked Hynix of South Korea by only 4.5 percentage points, down from 7.2 percentage points in the first quarter. The attached figure presents iSuppli’s worldwide ranking of NAND flash suppliers in the second quarter. Micron’s market-share advance reflects its aggressive production ramp of 300 millimeter (mm) wafers and its plan to migrate nearly half of its NAND flash manufacturing to the 34 nanometer (nm) process geometry by the end of 2008, iSuppli believes. “In the memory world, process migrations and wafer scale are two crucial factors in driving down costs,” observed Nam Hyung Kim, chief analyst and director at iSuppli. “Micron has rapidly increased its 300mm wafer capacity and the 32nm geometry will boost its profitability in the near future, as well as its productivity. Because of its aggressive production ramp, Micron now is challenging Hynix for the market’s No.-3 spot—and by the first half of 2009 likely will be in a position to vie with industry leaders Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Toshiba Corp in terms of profitability.” Because Hynix is expected to focus mainly on DRAM throughout 2008, its NAND market share gap with Hynix will narrow further iSuppli believes. Significantly, the only other company besides Micron to achieve sequential NAND memory revenue growth in the second quarter was its manufacturing partner, Intel Corp. Intel posted a 4.8 percent increase in revenue, giving it a market share of 5.2 percent, up from 4.8 percent in the first quarter. Due to intense competition and the slowdown of the economy, the NAND flash market has been experiencing a sharp downturn since the beginning of 2008. iSuppli early this year warned that the NAND market would experience a challenging 2008. iSuppli now has cut its 2008 NAND annual flash revenue growth forecast from 9 percent to virtually zero. Unless NAND prices stabilize during the forth quarter, even such flat growth may not be possible this year. “The flash industry is abuzz with talk about Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and other emerging applications that could drive new NAND demand,” Kim said. “However, none of these applications is expected to change the momentum of the NAND business anytime soon. With the gloomy economic outlook, excess inventory, slow orders and weak consumer spending, the NAND market will remain under pressure for the foreseeable future. With its extensive use in consumer-oriented products like MP3 players and digital still cameras, NAND is highly susceptible to changes in macroeconomic conditions.” iSuppli now believes the global NAND flash per-megabit Average Selling Price (ASP) will decline by about 60 percent in 2008, compared to its previous forecast of a 56 percent decline. No-1 NAND flash memory supplier Samsung in the second quarter maintained its market lead with a 42.3 percent share of global revenue. The company was the only profitable NAND supplier during the second quarter due to its diverse product lines, iSuppli believes. Jonathan Cassell iSuppli Corporation Top _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Micron makes gains in NAND market / DigiTimes Michael McManus, DIGITIMES  [Wednesday 20 August 2008] Micron Technology in the second quarter narrowed its NAND flash memory market-share gap with Hynix Semiconductor, setting the stage for a battle for the industry's third rank this year, according to iSuppli. US-based Micron in the second quarter sold US$300 million worth of NAND flash memory, up 11.9% from US$268 million in the first quarter, the largest percentage and revenue growth of the top-7 suppliers ranked by iSuppli. Micron's industry-leading performance was all the more remarkable given the generally weak conditions in the NAND flash market in the second quarter. Global NAND flash memory revenue declined to US$3.36 billion in the second quarter, down 2.5% from US$3.45 billion in the first quarter. Five of the top-7 NAND suppliers posted either declines or zero growth in revenue compared to the first quarter. Number four ranked Micron's share of global NAND revenue market increased to 8.9% in the second quarter, up from 7.8% in the first. Micron in the second quarter trailed third ranked Hynix of South Korea by only 4.5 percentage points, down from 7.2 percentage points in the first quarter. Micron's market-share advance reflects its aggressive production ramp of 300 millimeter wafers and its plan to migrate nearly half of its NAND flash manufacturing to the 34nm process geometry by the end of 2008, iSuppli believes. "In the memory world, process migrations and wafer scale are two crucial factors in driving down costs," observed Nam Hyung Kim, chief analyst and director at iSuppli. "Micron has rapidly increased its 300mm wafer capacity and the 32nm geometry will boost its profitability in the near future, as well as its productivity. Because of its aggressive production ramp, Micron now is challenging Hynix for the market's number three spot – and by the first half of 2009 likely will be in a position to vie with industry leaders Samsung Electronics and Toshiba Corp in terms of profitability." Because Hynix is expected to focus mainly on DRAM throughout 2008, its NAND market share gap with Hynix will narrow further iSuppli believes. Significantly, the only other company besides Micron to achieve sequential NAND memory revenue growth in the second quarter was its manufacturing partner, Intel. Intel posted a 4.8% increase in revenues, giving it a market share of 5.2%, up from 4.8% in the first quarter. Due to intense competition and the slowdown of the economy, the NAND flash market has been experiencing a sharp downturn since the beginning of 2008. iSuppli early this year warned that the NAND market would experience a challenging 2008. iSuppli now has cut its 2008 NAND annual flash revenue growth forecast from 9% to virtually zero. Unless NAND prices stabilize during the forth quarter, even such flat growth may not be possible this year. "The flash industry is abuzz with talk about Solid-State Drives (SSDs) and other emerging applications that could drive new NAND demand," Kim said. "However, none of these applications is expected to change the momentum of the NAND business anytime soon. With the gloomy economic outlook, excess inventory, slow orders and weak consumer spending, the NAND market will remain under pressure for the foreseeable future. With its extensive use in consumer-oriented products like MP3 players and digital still cameras, NAND is highly susceptible to changes in macroeconomic conditions." iSuppli now believes the global NAND flash per-megabit Average Selling Price (ASP) will decline by about 60% in 2008, compared to its previous forecast of a 56% decline. Top ranked NAND flash memory supplier Samsung in the second quarter maintained its market lead with a 42.3% share of global revenues. The company was the only profitable NAND supplier during the second quarter due to its diverse product lines, iSuppli believes. Top Global NAND flash market share ranking by revenues, 2Q 2008 (US$ million) 2Q08 Rank Company 2Q08 Revenues 2Q Share 1Q08 Revenues Q/Q Growth 2Q07 Revenues Y/Y Growth 1 Samsung 1,422.0 42.3% 1,449.0 -1.9% 1,382 2.9% 2 Toshiba 925.0 27.5% 942.0 -1.8% 828 11.7% 3 Hynix 450.0 13.4% 518.0 -13.1% 430 4.7% 4 Micron Technology 300.0 8.9% 268.0 11.9% 162 85.2% 5 Intel 174.0 5.2% 166.0 4.8% 89 95.5% 6 Numonyx 74.0 2.2% 74.0 0.0% 70 5.7% 7 Renesas 17.0 0.5% 32.0 -46.9% 82 -79.3% Qimonda - - 2 -100.0% Total 3,362.0 100.0% 3,449.0 -2.5% 3,045 10.4% _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. NAND rankings: Samsung profitable, Intel lags Mark LaPedus (08/19/2008 10:48 AM EDT) URL: http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=210101738   SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The rankings in the NAND flash memory market remained constant in the second quarter, but Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. was the only profitable supplier during the period, according to iSuppli Corp. And in the rankings, Intel Corp. is trailing near the back of the pack. Samsung remained in first place in terms of NAND share in the second quarter, followed in order by Toshiba, Hynix, Micron, Intel, Numonyx and Renesas, according to iSuppli. (See rankings table on page 2) Global NAND flash memory revenue declined to $3.36 billion in the second quarter, down 2.5 percent from $3.45 billion in the first quarter, according to the firm. Five of the top-7 NAND suppliers posted either declines or zero growth in revenue during the period, according to the research firm. The NAND flash market has seen a sharp downturn since the beginning of 2008. iSuppli has cut its 2008 NAND annual flash revenue growth forecast from 9 percent to virtually zero. In the rankings race, Korea's Samsung maintained its No. 1 position in the NAND market with 42.3 percent market share recorded during the second quarter of 2008, according to iSuppli. In the quarter, Samsung's NAND sales hit $1.422 billion, down 1.9 percent from the first period, according to iSuppli. Japan's Toshiba Corp. maintained its No. 2 position in the NAND market with 27.5 percent market share recorded during the second quarter of 2008, according to iSuppli. In the quarter, Toshiba's NAND sales hit $925 million, down 1.8 percent from the first period, according to iSuppli. Korea's Hynix Semiconductor Inc. maintained its No. 3 position in the NAND market with 13.4 percent market share recorded during the second quarter of 2008, according to iSuppli. In the quarter, Hynix' NAND sales hit $450 million, down 13.1 percent from the first period, according to iSuppli. Micron Technology Inc. maintained its No. 4 position in the NAND market with 8.9 percent market share recorded during the second quarter of 2008, according to iSuppli. In the quarter, Micron's NAND sales hit $300 million, up 11.9 percent from the first period, according to iSuppli. Intel Corp. maintained its No. 5 position in the NAND market with 5.2 percent market share recorded during the second quarter of 2008, according to iSuppli. In the quarter, Intel's NAND sales hit $174 million, up 4.8 percent from the first period, according to iSuppli. Micron narrowed its NAND flash memory market-share gap with Hynix, setting the stage for a battle for the industry's third rank this year, according to iSuppli. Because Hynix is expected to focus mainly on DRAM throughout 2008, its NAND market share gap with Hynix will narrow further, iSuppli believes. ''In the memory world, process migrations and wafer scale are two crucial factors in driving down costs,'' said Nam Hyung Kim, an analyst with iSuppli, in a statement. ''Micron has rapidly increased its 300-mm wafer capacity and the 32-nm geometry will boost its profitability in the near future, as well as its productivity. Because of its aggressive production ramp, Micron now is challenging Hynix for the market's No.-3 spot--and by the first half of 2009 likely will be in a position to vie with industry leaders Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Toshiba Corp in terms of profitability,'' he added. The DRAM rankings did not change in the second quarter of 2008, but Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. is gaining ground on Hynix. Amid a major downturn in the sector, Samsung was still in first place in the DRAM rankings for the second quarter, followed in order by Hynix, Elpida, Micron, Qimonda, Powerchip, Nanya, Promos, Etron and Winbond, according to iSuppli. 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