The DRAM market became highly profitable last year after transforming into an oligopoly, according to DRAMeXchange, the memory and storage research division of TrendForce. The entire Q1 industry value grew 2% QoQ to reaching new heights at US$ 9.94 Billion. SK Hynix, one of the industry's largest DRAM manufacturers, managed to show a highly noteworthy performance following its recovery from last year's fire accident with operating margin growth jumping from 29% to 36%. As other DRAM manufacturers display similarly impressive performances this year, 2014 is considered an optimal for the entire DRAM industry, TrendForce predicts that the total DRAM industry value will grow 30% YoY to approximately US$ 45 Billion.
The sales result for the Labor Day holidays in China was weaker than previous projections, reaching a total of 3.738 million units and declining 10.2% YoY during the three weeks around Labor Day holidays, , according to WitsView, the display research division of TrendForce, and Σintell. Chinese brands’ inventory only rose slightly to 4.7 weeks. During Labor Day week, international brands’ sales performed well while Chinese top six brands showed a decline of 13%. From t2H2013, the ratio of 3D LCD TV has been dropping gradually with the penetration rate declining to below 30% during the Labor Day Holidays, while the UD LCD TV penetration rate surpassed 10% for the first time, with a sales volume of 42.2 million units.
