Mobile Devices to Topple PCs in DRAM Revenue by 2015

The shift from desktops and laptops to mobile devices has had a major effect on many industries, while repercussions both positive and negative will continue to pop up down the line. For example, the DRAM (dynamic random access memory) industry, typically thought of as inseparable from the PC industry, is well on its way to being more mobile-centric within the next couple of years, according to IHS.

Specifically, the DRAM found in cell phones and tablets will overtake that of desktops, notebooks and servers as mobile technology continues its boom into the mainstream. As such, mobile devices will account for $11.6 billion of the world's DRAM by 2015, while conventional PCs will only make up $9.9 billion. This will be the first time ever that mobile platforms will make up the majority of DRAM consumption.

These figures seem to fall in line with an IHS report released last year concerning DRAM, which found 2012 to be a record year for mobile DRAM revenue, which grew 10 percent over 2011 to reach $6.5 billion. Meanwhile, the PC DRAM market grew only 3 percent.

“The fortunes of the PC and DRAM industries have been intricately intertwined for 30 years now,” said Dale Ford, senior director at IHS. “DRAM makers have centered their technology, capacity and product strategies on the needs of their PC customers. At the same time, the performance of the DRAM business has been dependent on upturns and downturns in the PC market. But with the decline of the PC market and rise of wireless platforms, this alignment is coming to an end.”

Ford went on to add that this shift is evidence that the "post-PC era" is already upon us. Of course this doesn't mean that PCs will disappear from use, but that they are no longer "at the center of the technology universe." The fact that PCs are no longer driving action in the global electronics supply chain, however, does have major implications.

In all, PCs' share of total DRAM sales will fall to 30 percent in 2014, then 28 percent in 2015, ultimately reaching 22 percent in 2017 — a sizeable drop from 38 percent in 2013.