As the core of AI (artificial intelligence) infrastructure investment shifts from training to inference stages, the NAND flash (hereinafter referred to as NAND) market has surged. With a sharp increase in demand for high-performance enterprise SSDs (eSSDs) and rising prices, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix's combined global NAND revenue share is approaching 50%.
According to Counterpoint Research, a global market research firm, global NAND market revenue increased by 70% quarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of this year. During the same period, NAND prices also jumped by 55%. This follows a 90% surge in NAND revenue in the first quarter compared to the previous quarter, marking two consecutive quarters of steep growth.
The main driver behind market expansion is AI servers. While demand focused on HBM (high-bandwidth memory) for computation during the training phase, the role of eSSDs has grown significantly as the volume of data that servers must process and store has surged in the inference phase. In fact, eSSDs accounted for 48% of total NAND bit shipments in the second quarter, nearly doubling from the 26th% share recorded in the same period last year.
Samsung Electronics maintains its lead in the NAND market. Based on revenue for the second quarter this year, Samsung Electronics' global NAND market share was reported at 28%. eSSD sales also rose sharply. Market research firm TrendForce estimated Samsung Electronics' eSSD revenue at $14.35 billion (approximately 19.4184 trillion won) during the same period, more than double the previous quarter's $7.05 billion (approximately 9.5273 trillion won).
SK Hynix also secured second place with a NAND revenue share of 19% in the second quarter, up 1 percentage point (P) from the previous quarter. TrendForce estimated SK Hynix's eSSD revenue at over $8.63 billion (approximately 11.6781 trillion won). SK Hynix is expanding the application of its 321-layer TLC (triple-level cell) products, while its subsidiary Solidigm is leveraging ultra-high-capacity QLC eSSDs to meet demand from AI data centers.
The combined NAND market share of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix reaches 47%. A semiconductor industry official stated, "As AI inference services spread, orders for eSSDs from global big tech companies are rising sharply," adding, "Combined with the strong trend in NAND prices, the contribution of both companies' NAND segments to earnings is expected to grow even larger as the second half of the year progresses."
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