As average selling prices continue to pummel the DRAM space, Hynix strutted its stuff and ousted Micron from the highly competitive second spot in iSuppli’s Q2 DRAM ranking.

With the shift, Hynix and Micron continued their unbroken streak of trading off the second rank during every consecutive quarter since the beginning of 2004. Hynix’s Q2 DRAM revenue of $939 million in the second quarter, down 13 percent from Q1’s $1.08 billion, gave the South Korean memory maker a 16.4 percent share of the market, down from 16.5 percent in Q1. Meanwhile, Micron sold $840 million worth of DRAM for the period, down 23.6 percent from $1.1 million in Q1, marking what iSuppli noted was the steepest decline among the top-four suppliers. That resulted in a 14.7 percent share for the chipmaker, down from Q1’s 16.8 percent.

Overall, Q2 saw tepid demand keeping pricing on the decline with total Q2 revenue falling to $5.7 billion, down 13 percent from $6.6 billion in the March quarter. Although global shipments of DRAM megabytes sequentially increased 15 percent in Q2, the firm reported that the increase was reversed by a 25 percent decline in average selling prices (ASP).

Hynix managed to limit the ASP decrease to a relatively mild 19 percent, while its megabyte shipments increased by 10 percent. In contrast, Micron'' s DRAM ASP fell by 28 percent, while its megabyte shipments rose only 6 percent.

Hynix''s rise up the ranks was all the more remarkable, given that in the company converted a significant portion of its DRAM manufacturing capacity to NAND flash memory production in Q2. However, the company benefited from a faster-than-expected ramp up of production at its new M-10 300mm wafer production line, iSuppli said.

Despite its ability to buck the ASP trend, Nam Hyung Kim, principal analyst covering memory for iSuppli, said Hynix shouldn’t get too comfortable in its second place seat.

“The battle for second place will continue in the third quarter, "  the analyst predicted in a statement today.  “To maintain its market share, Hynix is focusing more on DRAM production this quarter, so it''s decelerating its shift to NAND-flash manufacturing. Micron also is expected to increase its DRAM shipments aggressively in the third quarter."
 
Kim noted that Micron said it intentionally accumulated DRAM inventory in Q2 so the parts could be sold at higher prices in Q3.

Fourth-ranked supplier Infineon Technologies AG was the star performer among the top-tier DRAM suppliers, iSuppli said, with its revenue declining a mild 2 percent for the quarter. Infineon''s market share rose to 13.5 percent in Q2, up from 12 percent in Q1 -- the biggest gain for any DRAM maker in the quarter, the firm reported.

That was thanks to the German chipmaker''s megabit shipments jumping a whopping 44 percent on increased production at its manufacturing partners, Inotera Memories Inc., Winbond Electronics Corp. and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC). Inotera accounted for 15 percent of Infineon''s Q2 DRAM shipments, while SMIC and Winbond together accounted for 20 percent.  

With its Asian manufacturing partners producing more than one-third of its DRAM, Infineon reduced the negative impact on its pricing due to the strong euro compared to the U.S. dollar, iSuppli noted.