Taipei, Taiwan – The price of NAND flash memory is stabilizing after manufacturers slowed down supply of chips. But even after that action, sales of branded Flash fell by 2.4 percent in the first quarter of this year to $2.137 billion, compared to the fourth quarter of 2008.
According to memory market watcher DRAM Exchange, the average selling price increased by 18 percent during the quarter, with shipments falling by 17 percent during the same period.
Samsung remains the number one manufacturer, with sales worth $750 million and an estimated 36 percent of the market. Toshiba has 35.5 percent share, Micron sold $200 million worth, while Hynix dropped to fourth place with revenues of $171 million. Intel’s revenues in the first calendar quarter of this year was $155 million, and Numonyx held the number six position, with revenues of $70 million.
Because demand for mobile phones and consumer electronic products dropped in the first quarter of this year, Samsung’s revenues remained stable and it managed to grow its market share. Amounts in the table below are in $ millions. Data courtesy of DRAM Exchange.
| Company | Q1 09 | Share | Growth | Q4 08 | Share |
| Samsung | $750 | 36% | 0.7% | $745 | 34.9% |
| Toshiba | $740 | 35.5% | 0.3% | $738 | 34.5% |
| Micron | $200 | 9.6% | -6.5% | $214 | 10% |
| Hynix | $171 | 8.2% | -22.3% | $220 | 10.3% |
| Intel | $155 | 7.4% | 3.3% | $150 | 7% |
| Numonyx | $70 | 3.4% | 0% | $70 | 3.3% |
| Total | $2,086 | -2.4% | $2,137 |
