According to DRAMeXchange’s Assistant Vice President Avril Wu, the additional 23nm production from Samsung boosted the first quarter’s mobile DRAM shipments by 8.2% QoQ. Furthermore, the average selling prices for mobile DRAM have been relatively steady. These factors contribute to the ongoing growth of the global mobile DRAM revenues.

Wu noted that mobile DRAM prices will remain stable with a slight decline in the first half of 2015. New opportunities will arise as LPDDR4 arrives on the market and replaces its predecessor. For example, Samsung is seeing stronger than anticipated shipments of Galaxy S6, which carries 3GB of LPDDR4. Additionally, it is widely expected that the next-generation iPhones will come with 2GB of mobile memory.

As such, prices will fall but the decline will be very limited. Currently, mobile DRAM accounts for almost 40% of the total DRAM supply. Both the speed of technology migration and the speed of LPDDR4 transition will determine whether global DRAM suppliers will maintain profit growths in the peak season during the traditional peak season in the second half of 2015.

Taiwan-based DRAM Maker Nanya migrates to 30nm process

Nanya’s mobile memory revenues in the first quarter reached US$50 million, a 21.6% QoQ decrease. The supplier’s global market share is down to 1.4%. This decline is the result of a sharp reduction of stock up efforts from the clients and cuts made to the mobile DRAM capacity.

Though Nanya’s market share is relatively small, it is aggressively developing its mobile DRAM. The memory maker’s 30 nm manufacturing is scheduled to begin in the second half of this year, and mass production of LPDDR3 may also begin around the same time. This will help close the gap between Nanya and the top-tier suppliers.

Winbond’s mobile DRAM revenue grew by 7% QoQ, bringing its global market share to 1.0%. Mobile DRAM accounts for 13% of Winbond’s total revenue, and the increase is based on product mix adjustments and technology migration. Currently, the supplier is working on the development of its 46nm process.

Winbond’s capacity was fully loaded in the first quarter at 44K wafers per month, and the construction of a new fab is expected to begin this year with the expectation that it will have a capacity of more than 10K wafers per month available next year. How much equipment Winbond decides to buy for the new fab will depend on the market nonetheless.