DRAM memories, revenue falls by 30% in the last quarter: manufacturers cut production

The demand for computers and consumer electronics in general has weakened after the surge of the past years and for this reason also the memory sector, historically cyclical, is starting to suffer. As reported by analysts of Trend Forcethe DRAM industry Q3 2022 did record a decline in sales of almost 30% compared to the previous quarter.

Sector revenues stopped at $18.18 billiona contraction of 28.9% from $25.59 billion in Q2 2022 as a result of a significant reduction in both contract and spot prices. Decline in demand of products and needs of the electronics manufacturers of retrain inventory have affected the performance of companies in the sector.

Samsung remains the producer number one of DRAM in terms of revenue, even if the South Korean reality recorded a drop in sales of 33.5% who brought her market share to contract from 43.5% in Q2 to 40.7% in Q3 2022.

SK hynix lost 25.2%less than Samsung, and this has brought its market share to rise to 28.8%. Same trend for Micronwhich with one 23.3% reduction in sales he saw his own go up quote from 24.5% to 26.4%. Smaller companies in the sector such as Nanya, Winbond and PSMC experienced steeper declines and lost further market.

To stabilize prices (and limit the decline in revenue), the companies in the sector are ready to put in place a series of measures ranging from shrinking memory production and manufacturing expansion to slowing the transition to new manufacturing technologies.

Micron, in a noteconfirmed that to “respond to market conditions” will reduce DRAM and NAND memory production by approximately 20% compared to last quarter. “These reductions will affect all technology processes in which Micron has significant production. Micron is also working towards further cuts in capital spending.” For 2023, the U.S. company expects its year-over-year growth in terms of bits offered to the market “will be negative for DRAM” and in the single-digit range for NAND.

“Micron is taking bold and aggressive steps to curb bit supply growth and limit the size of our inventory. We will continue to monitor industry conditions and make further adjustments as necessary,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO of Micron. Micron.

The company’s steps come just weeks after it announced a $100 billion investment to build and start up a megafab in upstate New York that will take more than 20 years to complete.