Samsung Electronics Recovers DRAM Market Share... 45.7% in Q4 Last Year

Samsung Electronics Widens Gap with SK Hynix
SK Hynix's Q4 Market Share at 31.7%
3rd Place US Micron Drops to 19.1%

Samsung Electronics held a 45.7% share of the DRAM market in the fourth quarter of last year. After a decline in market share from the first quarter, it showed an upward trend again in the final quarter. This is the highest level since the third quarter of 2016 (48.2%).

Samsung Electronics Recovers DRAM Market Share... 45.7% in Q4 Last Year

Inside view of the line at Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus / Photo by Samsung Electronics

Market research firm Omdia announced on the 27th that the DRAM market sales reached $17.56 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. Despite the sluggish market conditions last year, the DRAM market gradually increased its sales scale. It surpassed the $10 billion mark in the first quarter ($9.367 billion), second quarter ($11.07 billion), and third quarter ($13.469 billion).

Samsung Electronics ranked first in DRAM market share in the fourth quarter of last year. Although Samsung had maintained a market share in the 40% range, it recorded a 38.7% share in the third quarter of last year, raising market concerns, but it recovered to the 40% range again. Samsung’s DRAM sales in the fourth quarter reached $8 billion, showing an upward trend for the first time in six quarters.

SK Hynix recorded DRAM sales of $5.555 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, capturing a 31.7% market share. Although this was a decrease from 34.4% in the third quarter of last year, it maintained its position as the second largest in the market.

As a result, the gap in market share between Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix widened significantly from 4.3 percentage points in the third quarter of last year to 14 percentage points in the fourth quarter. The gap had narrowed due to SK Hynix’s strong performance and Samsung’s weakness in the third quarter but expanded again to over 10 percentage points.

The third place was held by the American company Micron. Micron held a 19.1% market share in the fourth quarter of last year, down 3.7 percentage points from the previous quarter. Its sales in the fourth quarter last year were $3.35 billion.