PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Enthusiast performance memory and storage vendor OCZ has announced an exit from the DRAM business altogether amid strong results from the firm’s SSD business.
In August last year the company signal led a retreat from so-called commodity low-end OCZ branded memory, citing a low 3 per cent gross margin. However in the firm’s third quarter financial results, the company said that "well-chronicled, continued weakness in the global DRAM markets" meant that it would "accelerate plans to discontinue its remaining DRAM module products."
The move will see OCZ become an SSD specialist as it phases out the remaining high-end DRAM modules by the 28th of February. The firm seems unlikely to miss the DRAM market given that it also announced SSD revenues were up 325 per cent year-on-year and up 105 per cent over the previous quarter.
Despite the surging SSD revenues, the firm announced nearly a one million dollar loss in the third quarter due to the shut-down of the DRAM business and acquisition of intellectual property including Fibre Channel and DRAM SSD controller tech as the firm develops PCI and enterprise SSD products.
OCZ has also made efforts to branch the SSD business out from the enthusiast retail segment with OEM wins for corporate clients and high-end PC builders such as Falcon Northwest.
Having committed to dispose of the firm’s lame duck DRAM business and having successfully transformed from an ODM SSD rebrander to SSD development house, OCZ should be well placed to capitalise on continued growth within the solid state storage sector.
