Amid a more than 50% surge in the global DRAM market this year's second quarter driven by AI (artificial intelligence), Samsung Electronics, leveraging its superior capacity to supply general-purpose products, has solidified its top position while widening the market share gap with SK Hynix, which holds a higher proportion of HBM (high-bandwidth memory).
According to Counterpoint Research, a global market research firm, global DRAM market revenue reached $152.224 billion (approximately 204.6804 trillion won) in the second quarter, up 57% from the previous quarter. This growth was driven by increased demand for AI server CPUs and other components, alongside a sharp rise in general-purpose DRAM prices. As the AI memory competition led by HBM expanded to include supply shortages and price hikes in general-purpose DRAM, product mix and supply capacity became key variables determining each company's performance.
During the same period, Samsung Electronics' DRAM revenue rose 57% to $58.205 billion (approximately 78.2974 trillion won). Growing at the same pace as the market, it maintained a 38.2% market share, identical to the previous quarter. Even as the market more than doubled in size within a single quarter, Samsung secured growth commensurate with its existing share.
This was underpinned by Samsung's competitiveness in general-purpose DRAM. With demand for general-purpose DRAM centered on AI server CPUs exceeding supply, Samsung secured sufficient volumes and reflected price increases in its revenue, thereby benefiting from the trend.
In contrast, SK Hynix's DRAM revenue increased only 38% to $38.675 billion (approximately 52.0189 trillion won). While absolute revenue grew, it fell short of the market growth rate by 19 percentage points. Its market share also declined from 29% to 25.4%, a drop of 3.6 percentage points. This was influenced by SK Hynix's high proportion of HBM sales. Unlike the sharp rise in general-purpose DRAM prices, HBM saw weaker average selling prices (ASP) due to price declines in HBM3E (fifth generation) and delays in launching HBM4 (sixth generation).
SK Hynix also faced disadvantages from having signed long-term agreements (LTAs) earlier than competitors. Contract prices set before the price surge were lower than current market rates, limiting its ability to reflect sharp price increases in revenue.
Consequently, the market share gap between Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix widened from 9.2 percentage points in the first quarter to 12.8 percentage points in the second quarter. Compared to a year ago, the leadership race has effectively reversed. In the second quarter of last year, SK Hynix led with 39.2% share against Samsung Electronics' 33%, a 6.2 percentage point lead; however, this year's second quarter saw the opposite outcome.
SK Hynix's lost market share was largely captured by U.S.-based Micron and China-based CXMT (Changxin Memory Technologies). In the second quarter, Micron's share rose from 22.5% to 23.9%, while CXMT's increased from 7.6% to 9.6%. Combined, their gains totaled 3.4 percentage points, nearly matching SK Hynix's decline of 3.6 percentage points.
Future competitive dynamics are expected to hinge on price trends for general-purpose DRAM and HBM. With general-purpose DRAM prices remaining strong, Samsung Electronics is seen as well-positioned to maintain its current advantage. However, if HBM prices recover and SK Hynix renews its existing LTAs at higher rates that get reflected in contracts, the growth rate gap between the two companies could narrow again. An industry insider stated, "With further price increases for general-purpose DRAM expected in the third quarter, Samsung's performance is likely to grow even more."
in INDUSTRY
