Qimonda AG achieved the strongest growth among the top-five DRAM suppliers in the third quarter of 2006, allowing it to hold on to its second place ranking, new research finds.

The German memory maker, which recently branched off from Infineon Technologies AG, increased its DRAM revenue by 29 percent in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, iSuppli estimated. Its sales rose to $1.55 billion, up from $1.21 billion in the second quarter.

Qimonda's DRAM bit shipments rose by an impressive 17 percent sequentially in the third quarter, beating iSuppli's forecast of 10 percent, said Nam Hyung Kim, director and principal analyst, memory ICs/storage systems for iSuppli.

The company also managed to increase its DRAM Average Selling Price (ASP) by 10 percent sequentially due to its dramatic rise in shipments of higher-priced graphics DRAM.

Industry leader Samsung increased its bit shipments by 21 percent and remained in the top spot among DRAM makers.

DRAM is a type of memory used in a variety of electronic devices to store data and instructions. The information - which typically lost when the device is turned off - is vital for devices to function properly.

Samsung