The average selling price (ASP) of dynamic random-access memory (DRAMs) is expected to decline drastically after the sudden growth spurt in 2010, decreasing DRAM Market growth during the forecast period.
What is DRAM?
DRAM is random accessible memory, consisting of a capacitor and a transistor, which stores each bit of data in a storage cell. Each capacitor can be charged or discharged, equating to two values of a bit (i.e. 0 and 1) respectively. DRAM enables electronic devices such as PCs, smartphones, music players, laptops, netbooks, and tablet computers to access any part of the system memory directly and instantly, rather than accessing the data in a planned order.
Average Selling Price of DRAMs
In 2013, the ASP of DRAMs was US$0.83 per gigabit but it is expected to decline year-on-year to reach US$0.18 per gigabit by 2018. There will be a drop in the market share and profit margins of the leading vendors because of this declining ASP, which affects the Global DRAM Market growth.
Demand for Mobile DRAM
Until 2009, DRAM content in mobile devices was minimal because the demand for DRAM content increased considerably following the introduction of smartphones in 2010. The demand for high DRAM content stems from the growing basic internal memory of smartphones.
The Smartphone segment is one of the major end-user segments for DRAMs as there is an increasing demand for high memory densities in these devices. DRAM is available as an integrated component for smartphones with content varying between 178MB and 2GB depending on the versions of smartphones.
For instance, in March 2014, Samsung announced that it is engaging in mass production of 4GB DRAM for mobile devices. The increasing sale of smartphones is also expected to foster the demand for DRAMs, making smartphones the significant revenue generating source in the Global DRAM market. The unit shipment of the Global Smartphone Market was 897.9 million units in 2013 and is expected to increase to just over 1.7 billion units by 2018, growing at a CAGR of 15.6 percent.
Furthermore, the demand for DRAMs in tablets is expected to increase significantly because of their growing popularity among customers and rapid technological advancements and globalization. Customers are also increasingly opting for tablets instead of PCs.
Currently, the use of DRAMs in tablets is not as high as it is in smartphones, but an expected increase is anticipated, and the Tablet segment is likely to contribute to the market revenue significantly. The unit shipment of the Global Tablet Market was 148.1 million units in 2013, and is expected to increase to 828.4 million units by 2018.
