Global NAND flash memory revenue in the third quarter rose to $3.94 billion, up 25.5 percent from $3.1 billion in the second quarter. No.-2 NAND flash supplier Toshiba dramatically outperformed the overall market in the third quarter, with its NAND revenue booming by 47.5 percent to reach $1.4 billion, up from $924 million in the second quarter.
“Toshiba in the third quarter was able to capitalize on favorable NAND market conditions with its expanded capacity and high Average Selling Price (ASP),” said Michael Yang, senior analyst, memory and storage for iSuppli.
“The company was able to expand its shipments. Furthermore, the company is the leader in production of three-bit-per-cell parts, which have lower manufacturing costs, thus improving profitability.”
Three-bit-per-cell flash is a form of Multi-Level Cell (MLC) technology, which allows the storage of more than one bit of data in each cell of a memory device, increasing its effective density. Until recently, MLC flash memories have been two-bit-per-cell devices, which store twice as much data as non-MLC flash. However, Toshiba’s three-bit-per-cell flash memories take MLC to the next level, tripling the amount of storage compared to regular flash.
Toshiba’s three-bit-per-cell flash memories are particularly popular in consumer storage media such as USB, Secure Digital (SD) and microSD products.
Toshiba’s revenue surge allowed its share of global NAND flash revenue to rise to 34.6 percent in the third quarter, up from 29.4 percent in the second quarter, solidifying its hold on the market’s second-place position behind Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
NAND prices rise
NAND flash Average Selling Prices (ASPs) have grown this year as NAND suppliers slashed production in response to a market oversupply during the fourth quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The overall NAND ASP rose by 18.5 percent in the second quarter and by 40 percent in the third quarter. The ASP is projected to hold steady in the fourth quarter with a 2.9 percent decrease, based on iSuppli’s preliminary estimate.
“In 2009, NAND flash suppliers decided they no longer wanted to bleed red ink,” Yang said. “By shutting down some of their 200-millimeter production lines, the NAND flash suppliers were able to reverse the oversupply, boosting prices and expanding market revenue.”
Because of this, the NAND flash memory market represents a rare bright spot in what is expected to be a poor year for the global semiconductor market in 2009. NAND flash actually is expected to achieve double-digit growth with a projected 16.4 percent rise in revenue for the year. In contrast, global semiconductor revenue in 2009 is expected to decrease by 12.4 percent.
All six NAND flash memory suppliers achieved double-digit-percentage revenue growth in the third quarter, as presented in the figure.
Source: iSuppli, USA; Dec. 2009
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