ELSEGUNDO, CA - ISuppli
reported that DRam global revenue declined by 19% to $6.5 billion, down
from $7.97 billion in the third quarter of 2007, and dropped by 40%
year-over-year from Q4 2006.
The
revenue loss was attributed to a 31% drop in DRam selling price,
partially the result of a 17% increase in production that contributed
to a glut in the market. The industry continues to struggle with
excess inventory, which is keeping prices down, iSuppli noted.
ISuppli
reports that top-tier DRam suppliers engaged in large capital spending
programs in 2007 in an attempt to corner the market and drive smaller
competitors out of the industry. "Until the suppliers change their
ways, this naïve game of scale will continue to cost the DRam industry
every year," said Nam Hyung Kim, director and chief analyst of memory storage systems at iSuppli.
"There
is a lesson to be learned from the fourth-quarter DRam disaster. In
this game of upping the production ante, no supplier wins and the
entire industry loses," said Kim.