The worldwide DRAM market is currently the fourth largest semiconductor market worldwide behind Logic, Analog, and Microprocessors, with $29.1 billion in sales for 2008. Due to significant price erosion from competitive pressures and 300mm manufacturing, the DRAM market is expected to contract by 7 percent in terms of revenue this year, while unit shipments are expected to increase by 20 percent.
 
DRAM, or Dynamic Random Access Memory, is an integral component in nearly every product in the computer market. Personal desktop and laptop computers use this form of memory for an assortment of necessary operations thus tying its growth to the growth of the computer market as a whole.
 
In 2008 DRAM made up 11 percent of the total worldwide integrated circuit market which is semiconductors less optoelectronics, discretes, and sensors. DRAM sales have slumped in recent years due to overproduction and overcrowded inventory space. However, DRAM revenue is expected to rebound in 2009 and increase at an average of 13 percent annually, trailing only Flash memory devices and surpassing the predicted total IC average growth rates.
 
Samsung is easily the world’s largest DRAM producer with 29 percent of the total market share and $9 billion in sales for 2008. However, the top five producers of DRAM currently control 90 percent of the world market. This makes up an industry oligopoly which makes it extremely difficult for outside business to compete and gain a significant market share with these top five producers of DRAM.