Yes, Micron’s acquisition of Japan’s bankrupt Elpida Memory will give the Boise company a larger share of the worldwide market for dynamic random-access memory, the most common memory used in computers. Yes, Micron’s suddenly doubled market share in DRAM may help ease the wild swings in DRAM pricing that contributed to a year of losses.
But an even more important benefit for Micron may be a stronger ability to compete in the sale of memory for mobile devices like phones and tablets, an analyst says. “The whole point of the acquisition” is Micron’s continued investment in mobile memory, said Kim Hyung Sik at Taurus Investment Securities Co. in Seoul.
Micron CEO Mark Durcan cited Elpida’s strength in mobile DRAM during an interview Tuesday with Bloomberg Television. “We can see so many synergies and so many opportunities to really become a much stronger competitor in the memory space,” Durcan said. “Elpida at the moment has a very strong mobile DRAM offering, and of course that’s interesting to lots of mobile customers. Apple is one of those types of customers.”
Mobile memory sells for about four times that of similar-capacity computer memory, according to Taipei-based DRAMeXchange, a market research firm. Micron’s share of the market for mobile DRAM will almost quadruple to 20 percent from 5 percent, overtaking SK Hynix’s 19 percent share and trailing Samsung’s 60 percent.
Micron’s stock rose 5 percent Tuesday following the announcement. The stock closed at $6.89.
Bloomberg News
