SAN JOSE, Calif. -- How bad is the DRAM market? The DRAM industry is basically losing money for every PC shipped, creating huge deficits for the industry and its vendors.
''Gartner estimates that DRAM losses among the major vendors was $2.8 billion in the (fourth) quarter,'' said said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner Inc. (Stamford, Conn.), in a report.
''This equates to about a $27.40 loss for every PC shipped in the quarter,'' he said. ''Losses by the industry since this downturn started at the beginning of 2007 have now surpassed $13 billion.''
The DRAM market is a loss-ridden mess. In 2008, the DRAM industry was down 23.5 percent to $24.4 billion, according to Gartner. Bit growth was up 62 percent, but average selling prices were down 52.8 percent last year, according to Gartner.
In total, DRAM vendors lost a combined $7 billion in 2008, according to iSuppli Corp. (El Segundo, Calif.)
And the losses are expected to grow. Following poor fourth-quarter sales and supply cuts among vendors, iSuppli has lowered its 2009 DRAM revenue forecast down to $20 billion, down 15 percent from 2008.
Another bad sign: The government in Taiwan--and possibly Korea--may seek to bail-out the failing DRAM makers in those nations, but Norwood recently warned that such an action would be a ''disaster'' for the industry as a whole. It would simply prolong the downturn, he said.
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