Global DRAM and NAND flash industry

Because of external factors such as the US-China tech war, global economy, and war between Ukraine and Russia as well as Israel and Hamas, the global top three memory makers are maintaining their capacity reduction plans and will instead focus on advanced process transition and raising the production capacity of high bandwidth memory (HBM)

Because of a decline in inventory levels at end-customers, a rebound in memory demand during the peak season and ongoing production cuts by memory manufacturers, memory prices increased with the combined revenues of the three major memory makers hitting US$18.5 billion in the third quarter of 2023, maintaining a quarter-on-quarter growth and a smaller year-on-year decline compared to the previous three quarters.

The operating profit margin of each of the three manufacturers also improved compared to the previous quarter. Particularly, SK Hynix, benefiting from demand for HBM, showed a significant improvement in DRAM revenue growth and memory operating profit margins.

• Introduction

• Revenues

• Chart 1: Global top-3 memory makers combined memory revenues, 3Q22-4Q23 (US$b)

• Performance breakdown

• DRAM

• Chart 2: DRAM business revenues by the top-3 makers, 3Q22-4Q23 (US$b)

• NAND flash

• Chart 3: NAND flash business revenues by the top-3 makers, 3Q22-4Q23 (US$b)

• Operating profit margin

• Chart 4: Memory business operating profit margin by the top-3 makers, 3Q22-4Q23

• Memory roadmap

• DRAM manufacturing node

• Table 1: DRAM manufacturing node roadmap by top-3 makers

• HBM3E

• Table 2: HBM3E specifications and mass production schedule of top-3 makers

• DDR5

• Table 3: DDR5 memory shipment share of top-3 makers and relationship with new server platform releases

• NAND flash of 200-300 layer

• Table 4: Mass production schedule of top-3 makers 200- to 300-layer NAND flash

• Advanced node and HBM capacity

• Table 5: Advanced node and HBM capacity plans of top-3 makers

• Capex

• Chart 5: Semiconductor capex of the top-3 makers, 2018-2024 (US$b)

• Supply/demand

• Table 6: Key factors affecting 2024 memory market supply and demand

• Summary