Apple iPad driving tablet DRAM sales bonanza

DRAM shipments for tablets will grow by more than 800 per cent this year, bucking the overall trend in the market and again highlighting the huge demand for tablet devices, according to figures from market research firm iSuppli.

DRAM shipments in 2011 for tablets are projected to reach 353.3 million gigabits, up a whopping 834.7 per cent from a lowly 37.8 million in 2010.

Shipments will continue to rise, growing to one billion gigabits in 2012, and to 2.2 billion in 2013 and 3.5 billion in 2014, the firm said.

The impressive stats highlight the seemingly insatiable demand for tablet devices, and iSuppli is predicting that sales this year will hit 57.6 million, up from 17.1 million in 2010.

"The DRAM industry is receiving a major boost from tablets, the undisputed stars of this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas," said Mike Howard, principal analyst for DRAM and memory at iSuppli.

"At the show, new tablets such as the Motorola Xoom and BlackBerry Playbook joined recently released rival products made by Samsung and Dell, all intended to dent the overwhelming lead for Apple's iPad."

The figures for tablet DRAM, however, come in sharp contrast to poor performance in the overall market. Average selling prices are set to continue falling, contributing to an 11.8 per cent decline in revenue this year, according to iSuppli.