Hynix Semiconductor is bidding to offset some of the worse effects of falling demand and lower prices in traditional DRAM markets by putting greater emphasis on distribution channels to find new business in industrial markets.
This is part of a plan which has been rolled out across Europe in the past few months. In the UK, Hynix is using distributor 2001 to target new business opportunities for its DRAM and NAND memories.
Hynix UK managing director JK Kim believes the memory supplier must convince customers that it has a long-term commitment to the distribution market.
The concern in the past has been that a supplier like Hynix only looks at distribution when times are tough in its core memory markets. When the high-volume PC market picks up, serving distribution customers can become less of a priority.
“We need to build trust,” Kim told
EW. “We are committed to supporting distribution customers found by 2001 in the long term.”
Part of the plan to grow the non-PC business is to offer specialist memory products such as lower power DRAM and multi-chip packages combining DRAM and NAND.
Roy Greer, 2001’s managing director, said once customers are convinced that Hynix is serious about supporting the distribution market, there will be opportunities especially in security and video markets.
Kim makes no secret that a motivation for the move is the downturn in the volume DRAM market, which accounted for 80% of its $6.2bn sales in 2008.
Spot prices on some DRAM products have fallen by as much as 90% in the past 18 months.
See: DRAM industry in turbulent times