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The five largest DRAM suppliers by revenue in 2003 were Samsung, Micron, Infineon, Hynix, and Nanya—in the same order as in 2002. That unchanged ranking did not mean the market stood still: worldwide DRAM revenue rose 12 percent to $17.3 billion, while shipments increased much faster.
These are historical figures from iSuppli’s final 2003 market-share estimate, as reported in an analyst-provided column by Nam Hyung Kim of iSuppli in EDN on February 27, 2004. They describe the 2003 market, not today’s supplier positions.
Who were the top DRAM suppliers in 2003?
According to iSuppli’s final estimate, the revenue ranking was unchanged from 2002:
- Samsung
- Micron
- Infineon
- Hynix
- Nanya
EDN’s February 27, 2004 article reports the ranking but does not establish one cause for its stability. Individual sales and shares moved substantially even as the top five remained in the same order.
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How much did the DRAM market grow?
iSuppli estimated worldwide DRAM revenue at $17.3 billion in 2003, up 12 percent from 2002. Suppliers shipped 3,384 million 256-Mbit-equivalent units, a 48 percent increase year over year. The much faster growth in unit-equivalent shipments than revenue indicates that the market’s expansion was not simply a matching rise in sales value.
Which memory types dominated shipments?
The market remained concentrated in established products, according to iSuppli’s 2003 estimates as reported by EDN:
- Density: 256-Mbit DRAM remained dominant. 512-Mbit parts accounted for 1.7 percent of shipments.
- Part type: DDR SDRAM represented 76.3 percent of total DRAM shipments.
The report’s description of stability therefore applies to mainstream density and part type as well as supplier order; it does not imply that every product segment or company performance was unchanged.
How did suppliers perform beneath the stable ranking?
Sales growth varied sharply among suppliers. The percentages below are iSuppli estimates for 2003, as reported by EDN; they are year-over-year sales changes unless noted otherwise.
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| Supplier | Reported 2003 result |
|---|---|
| Samsung | Revenue fell 0.8 percent; the article attributes the decline to shifting production from DRAM to NAND flash. |
| Infineon | Sales grew 43 percent; the article reports its share rose 3.5 percent, without clarifying whether that means percentage points or relative percent. |
| Hynix | Sales grew 30 percent; the article reports its share rose 2 percent, without clarifying whether that means percentage points or relative percent. |
| Nanya | DRAM share fell 5.8 percent. The article attributes the decline to slower-than-expected migration to 0.11-micron process technology. |
| Powerchip | Ranked eighth, sales grew 79 percent—the second-strongest growth among major suppliers. It had the best operating margin among Taiwanese suppliers in the fourth quarter; the article links this to ramping 300-mm wafer production. |
| Mosel Vitelic | Sales rose 141.1 percent, much of it attributed to taking on all ProMos DRAM output during 2003. |
| Winbond | Sales fell 33 percent as it prepared to exit DRAM. |
The article also says Oki Electronics entered the top ten, passing Vanguard, Elite Semiconductor, and Toshiba. These movements show why an unchanged top-five order should not be read as a static industry.
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Where was DRAM revenue generated?
China reached 10 percent of worldwide DRAM sales in 2003, its first double-digit share, according to iSuppli’s estimate. The reported regional distribution was:
| Region | Share of worldwide DRAM revenue |
|---|---|
| Asia-Pacific, including China | 41 percent |
| North America | 33 percent |
| Europe | 16 percent |
| Japan | 9 percent |
Regionally, Samsung led every market except China. Hynix led China with 39 percent, followed by Samsung at 20.5 percent, Micron at 16.9 percent, and Infineon at 16 percent. In Japan, Samsung and Hynix together held 43.9 percent; Elpida had 15.7 percent of its domestic market.
Why do overall rank and product-segment leadership differ?
A supplier’s overall revenue rank is not the same measure as its share within one density and memory type. In 2003, Samsung had 28.7 percent of the overall DRAM market, while its share of 256-Mbit DDR SDRAM sales was reported as 20.9 percent. Micron led the 256-Mbit SDRAM segment with 28 percent of segment revenue.
For 256-Mbit DDR SDRAM, EDN reported the following worldwide sales shares in iSuppli’s estimate:
| Supplier | Share of 256-Mbit DDR SDRAM sales |
|---|---|
| Samsung | 20.9 percent |
| Micron | 19.3 percent |
| Infineon | 18.6 percent |
| Hynix | 14.5 percent |
| Nanya | 8.3 percent |
The article gives a conflicting Samsung figure of 36.1 percent in a subsequent sentence about the same broader 256-Mbit DDR SDRAM market, without explaining the discrepancy. The internally consistent table above uses the five supplier shares as stated together; the 36.1 percent figure cannot be reconciled from the article and should not be treated as an established value.
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How much did suppliers rely on DDR?
The product mix also varied by company. The article reports DDR SDRAM, including graphics DDR, as the following shares of suppliers’ sales:
- Infineon: 83.4 percent
- Hynix: 76.4 percent
- Samsung: 73 percent
- Micron: 70.9 percent
DDR made up 97.6 percent of Nanya’s and 96 percent of Powerchip’s DRAM revenue. Elpida’s DDR shipments were 62.7 percent of its DRAM sales; EDN links its greater SDRAM exposure to a customer portfolio driven by consumer electronics in Japan.
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Nam Hyung Kim, then a principal analyst at iSuppli, summarized the pattern in the EDN column: “In a market characterized by rapid change, 2003 was a year of relative stability for the DRAM business, with the ranking of the top five players, the mainstream density and the most common part type remaining the same as they were at the end of 2002.”
That characterization is limited to the ranking and dominant product mix. The revenue market grew, shipment volumes rose, and supplier outcomes diverged; the report does not identify a single explanation for why the leading five retained their order.
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