Global Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) market was valued at USD 94.19 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach USD 135.66 billion mark by the end of 2027 by witnessing a CAGR of approximately 3.18 % for the period 2022-2027. IoT-infused semi-autonomous vehicles take real-time decisions while partly controlling the vehicle operations to avoid any accidents and reduce the load from the driver. Along with proximity sensors and cameras, cars are integrated with IoT systems to minimize human error and make driving more comfortable and safer. Thus, increasing the demand for DRAM in mobility solutions and the trends like cloud computing AI, IoT, and mobility combined together is expected to drive huge demand for DRAM during the forecast.

Key Highlights
The increasing adoption of microcontroller and memory ICs in automobile electronics and the growing application of memory storage chips in electronic devices is one of the significant factors driving DRAM products’ demand. Further, the rising demand for consumer electronics led to DRAM being a considerably low-cost and high-performance option. With DRAM being used in wearable gadgets, like smartwatches, the allied production capacities are expected to continue to grow.?
DRAM has witnessed significant developments as it moved its applications beyond personal computers and mobile devices into servers, automotive, and cloud applications. Such diversification is expected to drive the market studied over the forecast period.?
According to Tesla GDDR5 DRAM series have the highest bandwidth complement to its processors, and the content for DRAM reached at least 8GB for many model series under Tesla. The company aims to incorporate its next-generation vehicles with 20GB DRAM. At present, Micron Technologies is considered a pioneer in the manufacture of Automotive DRAMs. For instance, in January 2021, Micron Technology announced the volume shipment of 1? (1-alpha) node DRAM products that are designed with DRAM process technology to offer improvements in bit density, power, and performance for the automotive industries.
Similarly, in December 2021, Sk Hynix announced the release of 24Gb DDR5, which is designed with the 1anm technology which utilizes the EUV process and provides an increased speed by up to 33% and improved production efficiency due to the 24Gb density offered per chip. The chips are designed for applications on PCs and servers.
Small-scale vendors like Windbond initially started the building of a new fab in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, before the pandemic and were expected to complete the construction during 2020. However, with the impact of the pandemic, the completion was pushed to 2021, and it was further slated to 2022 due to different waves of the pandemic.

Key Market Trends

Smartphones and Tablets to Hold the Largest Market Share

The emerging memory technologies have enhanced the potential of memory by allowing the storage of more data at a lesser cost than the expensive-to-build silicon chips used by the popular consumer electronic gadgets, including cell phones and tablets. Moreover, the usage of mobile and tablet segments is increasing daily, which further boosts the studied market.
In November 2021, Micron Technology, Inc. announced its low-power double data rate 5X (LPDDR5X) DRAM for MediaTek’s new Dimensity 9000 5G flagship chipset for smartphones had been validated by MediaTek Inc. It is designed for high-end and flagship smartphones; Micron announced that LPDDR5X allows the smartphone ecosystem to unlock the next wave of data-intensive applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G innovation.
Also, in November 2021, Samsung announced the launch of LPDDR5X DRAM chips for smartphones and other devices. The launch brings efficiency and performance improvements to the high-performance DRAM chips portfolio of the company. According to the company, the new LPDDR5X DRAM would get 1.3x faster processing speeds while consuming nearly 20% less power than the older LPDDR5 standard.
Further, many vendors in the market are expanding their production facilities which drives the studied market. For instance, in June 2021, Samsung announced the mass production of its new UFS-based LPDDR5 memory module (uMCP). It combines the fastest LPDDR5 DRAM with the latest UFS 3.1 NAND flash in a single chassis, delivering flagship performance for mid-range mobile devices.
In October 2020, Micron Technology announced the launch of uMCP5, the first universal flash storage (UFS) multichip package with low-power DDR5 (LPDDR5) DRAM. Micron’s uMCP5 combines high-performance, high-density, and low-power memory and storage in one compact package, equipping smartphones to handle data-intensive 5G workloads with dramatically increased speed and power efficiency. The multichip package uses Micron’s LPDDR5 memory to power advanced mobile features previously only seen in costly flagship devices using discrete products, such as stand-alone memory and storage.
Additionally, the amount of data users, take daily through their smartphone cameras is increasing. The size of smartphone photos has grown exponentially as the number of pixels has increased. The growth in high-capacity smartphone applications, including mobile games, is another reason driving higher storage capacity. This trend would continue with the launch of 5G as high-capacity storage is essential to support high-speed communication, AR/VR, AI technology, and high-definition/4K content.

United States to Hold a Major Share in the Market

In the United States, DRAM chip reliance is almost entirely placed on South Korea, which maintains roughly half the production capacity for DRAM chips worldwide. Further, China and Taiwan account for nearly half of global manufacturing.
The country needs more efficient processing systems with rapidly changing technologies and high data generation across industries. With the advent of mobile and low-power devices, high-end data centers, and large on-chip caches, another high-priority demand has emerged: non-volatile, dense, and low-energy-consuming memories.
In 2022, according to Cloudscene, there will be about 2,751 data centers in the United States. The data center has become the new unit of computing. DPUs (Data Processing Unit) is an essential element of modern and secure accelerated data centers in which CPUs, GPUs, and DPUs can combine into a single computing unit that is fully programmable. Further, Nvidia estimates that data management drains up to 30% of data center central processing cores.
The companies try to stand out from rivals by adding more potent AI to their DPUs. The Santa Clara (California-based company) introduced its line of data processing units or DPUs, that can move more of the infrastructure in data centers into a chip. The DPU combines programmable Arm CPU cores with its high-performance network interface on a single system-on-chip (SoC).?
Further, 5G will enable the transmission of a vast amount of telecommunications data in a short time, which also means devices would need more storage. This would increase the adoption of DRAM. Additionally, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile Network service providers in the country are actively exploring the commercial potential for 5G modems to provide broadband internet access to premises without any cable or xDSL cabling.
Moreover, many investments in semiconductors and electronics are taking place in the country, further boosting the studied market. For instance, in July 2021, GlobalFoundries (GF), the global leader in feature-rich semiconductor manufacturing, announced its expansion plans for its most advanced manufacturing facility in upstate New York over the coming years. These plans include immediate investments to address the global chip shortage at its existing Fab 8 facility and construct a new fab on the same campus that will double the site’s capacity.?

Competitive Landscape

The competitive rivalry in the Dynamic Random Access Memory is moderately consolidated owing to the presence of many key players, continually trying to gain maximum market share. Some of the major players are Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, Winbond, and many more. Their ability to continually innovate the products by investing heavily in R&D has enabled them to gain a competitive advantage over their competitors.

April 2022 - Winbond Electronics Corporation, a global provider of semiconductor memory solutions, announced significant improvements to its DDR3 products on ultra-high-speed performance. The 1.35V DDR3 products from Winbond support a transfer throughput of 2133Mbps in both x8 and x16 configurations and are 100% compatible with 1.5V DDR3. Winbond’s DRAM roadmap now includes 1Gb-4Gb DDR3, 128Mb-2Gb DDR2, 512Mb-2Gb LP-DDR2, LP-DDR4x, LP-DDR3, LP-DDR, SDRAM interfaces for applications that require 4Gb or lower densities DRAM products, such as AI accelerators, IoT, Automotive, Industrial, Tele-communication, WiFi-6, WiFi-6e, xDSL, Fiber-Optical Network, Smart TV, Set-Top-Box, IP camera, and many others.
November 2021 - Micron Technology, Inc. announced its low-power double data rate 5X (LPDDR5X) DRAM for MediaTek’s new Dimensity 9000 5G flagship chipset for smartphones had been validated by MediaTek Inc. It is designed for high-end and flagship smartphones; Micron announced that LPDDR5X allows the smartphone ecosystem to unlock the next wave of data-intensive applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G innovation.

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