Kingston Technology continued to dominate the dedicated DRAM module field in 2012, though the long-time market leader's sales were hit by falling chip prices and a shrinking spot market, according to DRAMeXchange.
Kingston grabbed an almost 50% share of the global DRAM module market, which does not include sales generated by companies which manufacture their own chips, in 2012, said DRAMeXchange. Despite its market dominance, Kingston saw its DRAM module sales decrease 12.1% to US$2.73 billion in 2012, DRAMeXchange indicated.
Combined sales at DRAM module houses worldwide came to US$5.49 billion in 2012, down about 12.6% from 2011 levels, DRAMeXchange revealed.
Ramaxel attained the number two position with a 7.96% share in 2012, while revenues slipped 14.3% compared to 2011, DRAMeXchange said.
Smart Modular moved to third place in the 2012 ranking from fifth in 2011, with revenues decreasing by a smaller 2.9%, DRAMeXchange disclosed. Meanwhile, fourth-ranked Adata Technology saw its DRAM module sales decline 25.5% compared to 2011.
The falls in revenues generated from the memory module companies' DRAM products do not imply that they are losing competitiveness in the field, DRAMeXchange pointed out. Instead, the results suggest that memory module houses have diversified their offerings and improved their product mix in order to mitigate the impact of weak PC sales, DRAMeXchange said.
Kingston and many other module firms have put increased focus on non-DRAM products, such as embedded storage devices, solid-state drives (SSD), and NAND flash-based peripheral devices.
