SK Hynix Tops DRAM Market for Second Quarter, Widens Sales and Market Share Lead Over Samsung

Omdia Reports SK Hynix Leads the Market
Sales Reach Approximately $12.2 Billion, Samsung at $10.3 Billion
Market Share Gap Widens to 6.2 Percentage Points
Impact of HBM Analyzed... Attention on Annual Top Spot

SK Hynix has claimed the top spot in the global DRAM market for the second quarter of this year, following its first-quarter performance. The gap in sales and market share between SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics has also widened significantly.

SK Hynix Headquarters, Icheon City, Gyeonggi Province Photo by Yonhap News

According to the market research firm Omdia on September 5, the global DRAM industry’s sales in the second quarter of this year reached 30.916 billion dollars (approximately 43 trillion won), up 17.3% from the previous quarter. This increase is attributed to rising DRAM contract prices and higher shipments of high bandwidth memory (HBM).

HBM’s dominance played a significant role in overall DRAM market share. Omdia reported that SK Hynix’s DRAM market share (based on sales) rose from 36.9% in the first quarter to 39.5% in the second quarter, surpassing Samsung Electronics for two consecutive quarters and securing the number one position. During the same period, Samsung Electronics’ share fell from 34.4% to 33.3%, placing it second. The gap between the two companies widened from 2.5 percentage points to 6.2 percentage points during this period.

In terms of sales, SK Hynix recorded 12.226 billion dollars in the second quarter of this year, while Samsung Electronics posted 10.3 billion dollars, a difference of more than 1.9 billion dollars. The first quarter of this year marked the first time SK Hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics in DRAM market share. This is the first time in 33 years since Samsung Electronics became the global leader in the DRAM market in 1992.

Another market research firm, TrendForce, also reported that SK Hynix’s DRAM market share increased from 36% in the first quarter to 38.7% in the second quarter, up 2.7 percentage points, maintaining its top position.

As a result, there is growing industry attention on whether SK Hynix can secure the number one spot in the global DRAM market for the entire year. SK Hynix currently holds a dominant position as the largest supplier in the HBM market, with a market share exceeding 50%. It supplies most of its HBM products to major big tech companies, including Nvidia, a major player in the artificial intelligence (AI) market. All of this year’s HBM production has already been sold out, and negotiations for next year’s supply contracts are reportedly underway.