The discrete SRAM market will post minuscule growth over the next four years as more SRAM functionality is integrated with other chips such as microprocessors and microcontrollers.

The SRAM market will grow from $2.60 billion in 2003 to $2.68 billion in 2008, a 1% compound annual growth rate, says market researcher IC Insights.

Buyers can expect continued downward price pressure on SRAMs as manufacturers compete for business. The average price of an SRAM is expected to fall from $2.45 in 2003 to $2.16 in 2006, says Brian Matas, an analyst with IC Insights.

SRAM had been used in PC cache memory for years, but now cache memory is embedded on microprocessors. SRAM is also used in cell phones and networking equipment which will keep the SRAM market alive for years.

SRAM enjoyed growth in the late 1990s and 2000 as cell phone shipments increased 40%-50% per year. But cell phone growth has eased and other types of memory are replacing SRAM.

"With handsets, a lot of SRAM is being replaced by more versatile DRAMs with newer architectures. In some cases flash can be used," says Matas.

Which memory technology will be used in future generation cell phones is still up in the air. "It depends on how well other memory technologies are embraced by cell phone manufacturers," he says. "Manufacturers like to pit performance and price against other alternatives. Whatever provides a small footprint, extends battery life and has good speed will win out."

A bright spot for SRAM manufacturers could be high-speed SRAMs which are used in Internet infrastructure equipment and cellular base stations.

With these market segments, performance and speed are important and there is demand for zero bus turnaround (ZBT) and quad data rate (QDR) SRAMs.

ZBT SRAMs are high-speed, synchronous SRAMs designed to eliminate latency on the data bus during read and write operations, says Matas.

With ZBT SRAMs, there are no so-called "dead" bus cycles when the system bus transitions from a read cycle to a write cycle, he says. Bus bandwidth and data throughput on the data bus are maximized with ZBT SRAMs.

QDR SRAMs have separate I/O (input-output) ports, which eliminate data contention and enables reads and writes to the memory array every bus cycle.

One trend to watch is the integration of SRAMs with other chips. Some memory manufacturers are combining SRAM and flash memory onto a single chip. SRAM suppliers say by integrating the two memories in a multi-chip or chip-scale package, they can better service the needs of cell phone handset manufacturers, says Matas. "By integrating SRAM with other ICs it reduces the footprint and increases speed by not going back and forth from one chip to another," says Matas.

The option will likely grow in popularity with 2.5 and third-generation cell phones that can download data, music and other multimedia information from the Web, he says.

Pseudo SRAMs may gain in popularity. The devices combine the best features of DRAM and SRAM, says Matas. "They read and write quickly like an SRAM, but have the storage capacity like a DRAM," he says.

Cypress and Infineon have developed the specification for pseudo SRAM for third-generation cell phones. The device uses a single-transistor DRAM cell rather than a six-transistor SRAM cell. The device helps cell phone makers add more features while maintaining speed and a small form factor and competitive pricing.

Fujitsu, NEC and Toshiba have also developed a somewhat different specification for a pseudo SRAM.

Despite new SRAM developments and growth in demand for high speed SRAMs, buyers can expect prices to fall over the next several years.

"I don't see a huge demand on the horizon for discrete SRAMs. Supply remains steady. I don't see any gains in pricing. Prices will remain flat or decline a bit," says Matas.

Samsung is likely to continue to lead the SRAM market. It has about 24% market share followed by Cypress with 12% and Renesas and Toshiba with about 10% share each.

NEC, Hynix, OKI, Fujitsu and others have the rest of the market.