Major U.S.-based DRAM manufacturer Micron Technology will buy the remaining share that it does not own in its Taiwanese foundry partner Inotera Memories via a share swap transaction, according to a joint statement made by the two companies today (December 14). The latest report from DRAMeXchange, a division of TrendForce, places Micron third in market share for DRAM based on revenue.
The latest survey from DRAMeXchange a division of TrendForce, finds that increase in both SSD demand and average memory density of end devices will contribute to a 44% year-on-year growth of bit demand in global NAND Flash market in 2016. On the supply side, NAND Flash suppliers will step up their efforts in cost reduction and in development of 3D-NAND Flash to stimulate demand.
Slowdown in the end market has made 2015 a difficult year for the fabless IC industry. According to global market research firm TrendForce, revenue generated by fabless IC industry worldwide for the entire 2015 is estimated around US$80.52 billion, down 8.5% year on year.
Releases of new mobile devices have sustained the IC industry’s revenue growth this year, but the smartphone market demand on the whole is showing signs of weakness. Looking ahead to 2016, global market research firm TrendForce estimates that the worldwide revenue of the semiconductor foundry industry will grow a mere 2.1% year on year to US$50.3 billion.
According to global market research firm TrendForce, the combined revenues of major Asian semiconductor foundries are projected to exceed US$36 billion for 2015, up 4~5% year on year. These foundries now account for over 80% of the global foundry revenue and are poised to achieve US$40 billion in revenue next year.
