USA: Amid strong growth in global NAND flash memory sales in the third quarter, Hynix Semiconductor Inc., Micron Technology Inc. and Intel Corp. impressively outperformed the competition, according to a preliminary ranking from iSuppli Corp.

Hynix of South Korea achieved the strongest growth on a sequential basis, with its global NAND flash revenue rising to $806 million in the third quarter, up a whopping 79.1 percent from $450 million in the second quarter. It was followed by Micron of the United States, whose NAND revenue jumped by 75.5 percent to reach $285.4 million, up from $162.6 million in the second quarter.

Intel was third, with its NAND revenue rising by 47.9 percent to reach $132 million, up from $89.3 million in the second quarter. However, the U.S. semiconductor giant performed much better on a year-to-year basis, with its revenue rising by an industry-leading 222 percent compared to the third quarter of 2006.

“Hynix’s big sequential jump in NAND revenue was due to its stunning unit shipment growth of 92 percent compared to the second quarter,” said Nam Hyung Kim, director and chief analyst, memory ICs/storage systems for iSuppli. “Meanwhile, Micron’s and Intel’s explosive growth was due to the companies ramping up production at their NAND manufacturing joint venture: IM Flash Technologies LLC (IMFT).”

Samsung’s share shrinks
Leading NAND flash supplier Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. of South Korea fell short of the industry’s average growth rate in the third quarter, causing its market share to decline. Samsung’s NAND revenue amounted to $1.7 billion in the third quarter, up 21.2 percent from $1.4 billion in the second quarter. Thus, Samsung’s NAND market share declined to 40.2 percent, down from 45.4 percent in the second quarter.

Samsung’s actual bit growth reached only 4 percent during the third quarter, missing its guideline for a low double-digit rise, which was issued at the company’s second-quarter investor call. Toshiba maintained its market share of 27.2 percent in the third quarter. The top-three suppliers dominated the market with a combined 87 percent market share during the quarter.