February 5, 2007 – Riding a surge of shipments in 4Q, Korean chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor beat out rival Qimonda to take the No.2 spot for all of 2006 behind Samsung, according to new data from iSuppli Corp.
Globally, DRAM sales grew 36% to 33.87 billion, slightly exceeding iSuppli’s expectations of 34% growth. With operating margins as high as 45% led by continued facility investments from Powerchip, Samsung, and Hynix, DRAM was also one of the most profitable sectors of the semiconductor industry, iSuppli noted.
Hynix’s DRAM bit shipments soared 31% in 4Q, “blowing out expectations,” vs. just 14% DRAM shipment growth worldwide, the firm noted. (Elpida Memory Inc. was next with 28% shipment growth.) As a result, Hynix’s revenues surged nearly 43% to $2.07 billion in 4Q, also the highest rate among all DRAM suppliers. For the year, Hynix enjoyed ~37% revenue growth to $5.64 billion, squeaking by Qimonda and second again only to Samsung.
Nam Hyung Kim, director and principal analyst for iSuppli, attributed Hynix’s performance to aggressive migration to 80nm process technology, and fast rampup of its fab in Wuxi, China, which it inaugurated in October with partner STMicroelectronics (Hynix owns the majority 67% stake).
Also moving up the list was Elpida, which surpassed Micron Technology Inc. for the first time in 4Q to become the No.4 DRAM supplier. Micron barely held onto the No.4 spot for all of 2006, despite being the only DRAM maker on the list to shrink revenues (amid efforts to diversify into other product areas), and Elpida nearly doubling revenues over the period. iSuppli noted that Elpida also showed a “stunning” sector-topping >70% annual equity return in 2006. And the company is poised to gain even more share with its recently announced megafab DRAM JV with Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., which is expected to start tooling in 2Q07, and ramp to 30,000 wafers/month production in 3Q using Elpida’s 70nm process technologies.
Meanwhile, Qimonda, the memory spinoff of Infineon Technologies AG, fell behind Hynix to the No.3 spot “by a whopping $545 million” in 4Q, and also lost its No.2 position for the year, due to a 3% decline in shipments caused in party by production problems with foundry partner Inotera, iSuppli noted. Still, Qimonda posted an “impressive” 66% gain in revenues for all of 2006.
Preliminary rankings of DRAM vendors, 4Q06 and 2006
(Revenues in US $M)
Company……….4Q06 revenue…..vs. 3Q06…..4Q06 market share…..vs. 3Q06
Samsung……………….3001……………..17.7%……………27.90%…………27.80%
Hynix……………………2065……………..42.9%……………19.20%…………15.80%
Qimonda……………….1520……………..-2.0%……………14.10%………….16.90%
Elpida…………………..1198……………..27.6%……………11.10%………….10.20%
Micron………………….1024……………….4.9%……………9.50%……………10.60%
Nanya……………………661………………10.0%……………6.10%……………6.60%
Powerchip……………….528……………..18.9%……………4.90%……………4.80%
ProMos…………………..496………………20.1%……………4.60%……………4.50%
Etron………………………89………………21.9%……………0.80%……………0.00%
Winbond………………….55………………..5.8%……………0.50%……………0.60%
Others…………………..118……………….-2.5%……………1.10%……………1.30%
TOTAL……………….10,755………………17.3%………………–………………….–
Company……….2006 revenue…..vs. 2005…..2006 market share…..vs. 2005
Samsung……………..9479……………..27.1%…………..28.00%………….30.10%
Hynix………………….5637……………..36.9%……………16.60%………….16.60%
Qimonda………………5369…………….66.4%……………15.90%………….13.00%
Micron…………………3740……………..-1.9%……………11.00%………….15.40%
Elpida………………….3527……………..98.6%……………10.40%…………..7.20%
Nanya…………………2241……………..48.5%……………..6.60%……………6.10%
Powerchip……………1573……………..30.5%……………..4.60%……………4.90%
ProMos………………..1382……………..55.3%……………..4.10%……………3.60%
Etron……………………285……………..77.0%……………..0.80%……………0.60%
Winbond……………….172……………….N/A………………..0.50%…………….N/A
Others………………….464………………-2.5%……………1.40%…………….1.90%
TOTAL………………33,869……………..36.7%………………–……………………– —
WaferNEWS source: iSuppli Corp.