"Samsung Electronics DRAM Sales Down 25% in Q4 Last Year... Market Share Rises"

TrendForce Analysis
"Samsung Engages in Aggressive Price Competition"
Global DRAM Sales Down 33%

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Yeju] Samsung Electronics' DRAM sales in the fourth quarter of last year decreased by 25% compared to the previous quarter. However, Samsung's market share within the global semiconductor industry was found to have rather increased.

On the 3rd, Taiwanese market research firm TrendForce announced that Samsung Electronics' DRAM sales in the fourth quarter of last year amounted to $5.54 billion, down 25.1% from the previous quarter ($7.4 billion).

However, Samsung's market share rose by 4.4 percentage points from 40.7% to 45.1%.

TrendForce explained, "Samsung Electronics was able to increase shipments despite overall weak demand because it engaged in the most aggressive price competition."

Samsung Electronics LPDDR5X DRAM image. [Photo by Samsung Electronics] [Image source=Yonhap News]

SK Hynix, the industry's second-largest player, recorded DRAM sales of $3.398 billion in the fourth quarter, down 35.2% from the previous quarter ($5.242 billion). Its market share also fell by 1.1 percentage points from 28.8% in the third quarter to 27.7% in the fourth quarter.

Third-ranked Micron's fourth-quarter sales plunged 41.2% to $2.829 billion from $4.809 billion in the previous quarter. Its market share also dropped 3.4 percentage points from 26.4% to 23.0%.

Global DRAM sales in the semiconductor industry in the fourth quarter decreased by more than 30% compared to the previous quarter. Global DRAM sales in the fourth quarter of last year were $12.281 billion, down 32.5% from the previous quarter. This decline is close to the 36% drop recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008 during the global financial crisis.

TrendForce analyzed that the main cause of the sharp sales decline was the drop in average selling price (ASP) due to weakened demand.

Contract prices for DDR4 and DDR5 server DRAM products in the fourth quarter of last year fell by 23?28% and 30?35%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter.