DRAM revenue rose mostly on price in the third quarter, while bit shipments grew about 4% on the quarter.
Semiconductors and the Global Economy
Year-on-year growth in world chip sales rose every month from June to September, reaching 146.8% in September (SIA and WSTS, 3 November; Chart 1). The September figure is a three-month average of US$172.6 billion covering July to September, so it equals one-third of third-quarter sales. Third-quarter sales totaled US$517.7 billion, up 24.1% on the second quarter (SIA, 3 November).
Change on the same month a year earlier, three-month averages, each month as first reported.
Source: Semiconductor Industry Association and WSTS, monthly releases of 6 August, 4 September, 5 October and 3 November 2026. Chart: Custer Contexo Group.
The series is in dollars, so price and volume cannot be separated.
Growth on a year in September, on the three-month average, was above 70% in every region: the Americas 191.7%, Asia Pacific and all other regions 141.4%, China 124.9%, Europe 102.5% and Japan 73.4% (SIA, 3 November). China’s three-month growth on a year was 123.6% in July, 131.3% in August and 124.9% in September (SIA, 4 September, 5 October and 3 November).
Factory activity appears to have moved far less. The three-month average of the J.P.Morgan Global Manufacturing PMI was 4.0% above its year-earlier level in September and 3.5% above in October (Chart 2; Custer Contexo Group calculation). Both are three-month ratios to a year earlier, but the PMI is a survey index and chip sales are dollar revenue, so the gap shows direction and rough scale rather than a like-for-like comparison.
The October reading was 52.6, down from 53.0 in September (S&P Global).
Each line is a 3/12 ratio: a three-month average compared with the same three months a year earlier. The gray line marks 1.00, and a reading above it means growth on a year. Semiconductor sales run to September 2026 and the PMI to October 2026.
Source: S&P Global and J.P.Morgan (Global Manufacturing PMI); Semiconductor Industry Association and WSTS (semiconductor sales); Custer Contexo Group calculation. Chart: Custer Contexo Group.
DRAM Revenue and Price
Counterpoint Research puts third-quarter DRAM revenue at approaching US$200 billion.
Quarter on quarter, DRAM revenue rose about 31% (Custer Contexo Group calculation from Counterpoint’s rounded figures), while bit shipments rose about 4%. That implies a price per gigabit about 26% higher (Custer Contexo Group estimate; Chart 3). Both figures are quarter on quarter, so the 26% is also a quarter-on-quarter estimate. Most of the gain came from price rather than volume.
Change from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2026.
Source: Counterpoint Research, Global Memory Tracker Q3 2026, insight published 5 November 2026. Revenue change: Custer Contexo Group calculation from Counterpoint’s rounded figures. Price per gigabit: Custer Contexo Group calculation, the revenue ratio divided by the bit ratio (1.31 / 1.04). Chart: Custer Contexo Group.
SIA’s October figures are due in early December, judging by its recent release dates.
Sources
- Semiconductor Industry Association and World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS), monthly and regional releases of 6 August, 4 September, 5 October and 3 November 2026.
- SIA and WSTS, “Year-to-Date Global Semiconductor Sales Top $1 Trillion Through August,” 5 October 2026 (August figures).
- S&P Global and J.P.Morgan, Global Manufacturing PMI, October 2026.
- Counterpoint Research, Global Memory Tracker Q3 2026, insight published 5 November 2026.
- Custer Contexo Group calculations: the three-month PMI and semiconductor ratios (Chart 2), and the quarter-on-quarter revenue change and price-per-gigabit change (Chart 3).