SK Hynix Maintains No. 1 Spot in DRAM Market for Third Consecutive Quarter... Sales Up 30% from Previous Quarter

Omdia Market Analysis
DRAM Price Increase and Higher HBM Shipments Drive Growth
SK Hynix 34.1%, Samsung 33.7%, Micron 25.8%

SK Hynix, the leading company in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) market, has overtaken Samsung Electronics for three consecutive quarters this year to become the global leader in the DRAM market by revenue.

According to market research firm Omdia on November 28, the global DRAM industry posted sales of $40.388 billion (approximately 59 trillion KRW) in the third quarter of this year, a 30% increase from the previous quarter. This growth is attributed to rising DRAM contract prices and increased HBM shipment volumes.

In terms of overall DRAM market share, the three major memory companies are engaged in fierce competition. Omdia reported that SK Hynix’s DRAM market share (by revenue) fell from 39.4% in the second quarter to 34.1% in the third quarter, a decrease of 5.3 percentage points. However, SK Hynix still maintained the top position for the third consecutive quarter, ahead of Samsung Electronics.

However, the gap in market share between SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics has narrowed. During the same period, Samsung Electronics’ share rose from 33.2% to 33.7%, maintaining its second-place position. The gap between the two companies shrank from 6.2 percentage points to 0.4 percentage points. In terms of sales, SK Hynix recorded $13.757 billion and Samsung Electronics $13.62 billion in the third quarter of this year, showing only a marginal difference. This is attributed to Samsung Electronics’ HBM3E (5th generation) recently entering NVIDIA’s supply chain, as well as an increase in general DRAM sales.

Micron Technology of the United States also saw its market share increase from 22.4% in the second quarter to 25.8% in the third quarter.

Another market research firm, TrendForce, also reported that SK Hynix’s DRAM market share dropped from 38.7% in the second quarter to 33.2% in the third quarter, a decrease of 5.5 percentage points, but the company retained its top position. SK Hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics in DRAM market share for the first time in the first quarter of this year. This marks the first time in 33 years since Samsung Electronics became the world’s number one in the DRAM market in 1992.

According to securities industry sources, SK Hynix achieved a 60.8% share of the HBM market in the third quarter of this year, while Samsung Electronics and Micron Technology recorded 17.2% and 22.0%, respectively. SK Hynix supplies most of its HBM volume to major big tech companies such as NVIDIA and Google. For these key clients, SK Hynix has already sold out its entire production of HBM, as well as DRAM and NAND, for next year.