Bless, they grow up so fast-- according to IHS iSuppli the DRAM market achieves "some maturity in the face of daunting challenges" as 2013 300mm-equivalent wafer production drops by -24% to 13 million when compared to the 2008 peak of 16.4m units.

The -5% Y-o-Y cut makes 2013 the 2nd straight year of deliberate downsizing, following the -8% drop-off seen in 2012.

Controlled DRAM capacity is a positive for the industry-- it brings gradual normalisation between DRAM supply and demand, allowing firm DRAM pricing when production remains slightly behind demand.

“The DRAM industry has struggled with major challenges in recent years, including chronic oversupply and slowing demand from its main market, the PC business,” IHS says. “This has led to continued weak pricing, financial losses and market revenue declines. However, the DRAM industry has entered a more mature state, enacting structural changes that will allow it to grow even in challenging market conditions.”

According to TrendForce's DRAMeXchange Q1 2013 sees a rebound in commodity DRAM prices-- mainstream DDR3 4GB module contract prices grow by 36.2% Q-o-Q (from $17.25 on Q4 2012 to $23.50), a rare occurrence in a traditionally weak 1st quarter.

The analyst expects growing DRAM prices will support revenue growth until at least until Q2 2013.

When it comes to vendors, Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix control 64.3% of the market, a -3% drop from Q4 2012. Samsung fails to benefit from the price rebound, with DRAM revenues dropping by -10% Q-o-Q due to commodity DRAM production reduced to less than 20% of total supply. However, thanks mobile DRAM output exceeding 40% (mobile DRAM remains the most profitable of memory products) Samsung still sees strong Q1 2013 margins despite revenue reductions.

The Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium (HMCC) finishes the first specification for its titular memory technology-- HMC Specification 1.0, allowing OEMs to make 2 or 4GB DRAM employing a stacked, power-efficient architecture.

The result of a 17-month long collective effort led by Micron, Samsung and Hynix, the technology stacks multiple memory dies on top of a DRAM controller. In turn DRAM connects to the controller via silicon Vertical Interconnect Access (VIA), a technology passing a vertical electrical wire through a silicon wafer.

The structure reduces the tasks the memory chip performs, providing an interface 15x faster than standard DDR3 DRAM while reducing power requirements by -70% according to the HMCC.

In total the specification provides for chips with up to 160GBps of aggregate bi-directional bandwidth-- slightly faster than the current 11GBps of aggregate bandwidth of DDR3 or 18-20GBps of DDR4.

According to IHS iSuppli the average growth of DRAM content per PC will drop to a record low in 2013-- 17.4%, down from 21.4% in 2012 and the record highs of 56.1% in 2007 and 49.9% in 2008.

DRAM loading growth in PCs should remain low in the near future, rising by 21.3% in 2014 before sliding towards the 20% range until at least 2016.

The analyst attributes the decline to the current deceleration in the upgrade cycle (usually justified by the steady increase in PC capabilities) of both desktop and notebook PC.