Market Research Firm 'TrendForce' Reports
Global Memory Sales Reached 40.376 Trillion Won in Q4 Last Year
Samsung's DRAM Sales Increased, but Market Share Slightly Decreased
SK Hynix Closes In on Samsung, Driven by HBM
Last year, in the fourth quarter, the global memory industry's total sales exceeded 40 trillion won, driven by increased shipments of high-value-added DRAM such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM). While Samsung Electronics, the market leader, saw a slight decline in its market share, SK Hynix strengthened its position by increasing shipments of its 5th generation product, HBM3E, closely trailing Samsung Electronics.
According to market research firm TrendForce on the 27th, the global DRAM industry's sales in the fourth quarter of last year were $28 billion (40.376 trillion won), up 9.9% from the previous quarter. This increase is attributed to rising contract prices for DDR5 and increased shipments of HBM. The revenues of the top three DRAM suppliers (Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron) also continued to expand.
Samsung Electronics maintained its position as the number one DRAM supplier with sales of $11.25 billion (approximately 16.2225 trillion won), a 5.1% increase from the previous quarter. However, its market share slightly decreased from 41.1% in the third quarter to 39.3% in the fourth quarter.
Samsung Electronics experienced a decline in DRAM shipments due to inventory effects in PCs and smartphones and only began focusing on HBM shipments at the end of last year.
SK Hynix recorded sales of $10.46 billion (approximately 15.083 trillion won), growing 16.9% from the previous quarter, thanks to increased shipments of HBM3E. Its market share rose from 34.4% to 36.6%, narrowing the gap with Samsung Electronics. Micron, ranked third, posted sales of $6.4 billion (approximately 9.2288 trillion won), capturing a 22.4% market share.
TrendForce forecasted that the first quarter of this year would be a "traditional off-season," predicting that DRAM prices would decline due to weakened demand from cloud service providers (CSPs).
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