Global DRAM Sales Surge 60% in Q2... Samsung Electronics Maintains Top Spot with 39.4% Market Share

TrendForce Survey Results

Samsung Surpasses 82 Trillion Won in Sales with Early HBM4 Shipments

SK hynix Holds Second Place, Micron Close Behind in Third

Driven by the surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, global DRAM industry revenue surpassed 150 billion dollars in the second quarter of this year. In particular, Samsung Electronics secured its top position with a market share close to 40%.

According to market research firm TrendForce on September 8, global DRAM market revenue in the second quarter of this year reached 154.73 billion dollars (approximately 208 trillion KRW), up 59.5% from the previous quarter. The expansion in overall memory shipments was attributed to the proliferation of large language model (LLM) training and AI inference technologies.

Major DRAM Suppliers' Revenue Rankings for Q2 This Year. TrendForce

However, as manufacturers' inventories dropped to record-low levels, the actual shipment volume in the second quarter saw only a slight increase. TrendForce predicts that the growth in shipments in the third quarter will also remain limited.

By company, Samsung Electronics recorded the highest bit shipment growth among the three major suppliers, thanks to the early mass production and shipment of the sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM), HBM4. Along with a rise in average selling price (ASP), Samsung Electronics' revenue for the second quarter soared by 63.4% quarter-over-quarter to 60.98 billion dollars (about 82 trillion KRW), strengthening its global leadership with a 39.4% market share.

SK hynix, ranking second, saw its revenue rise by 37.9% quarter-over-quarter to 38.59 billion dollars (around 52 trillion KRW; 24.9% market share). Although the share of HBM contributed to a relatively modest ASP increase, the company continued to benefit from robust demand. Third-ranked Micron overcame capacity constraints by bolstering its premium server products, achieving revenue of 36 billion dollars (about 48 trillion KRW) in the quarter—up 65.5% from the previous quarter and capturing a 23.3% share of the global market.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese companies such as Nanya, Winbond, and PSMC, which focus on mature process technologies, experienced strong revenue growth due to a positive spillover from the three major suppliers shifting to advanced processes, as well as higher DDR4 and DDR3 prices. Particularly, PSMC posted a dramatic 167.8% quarter-over-quarter jump in consumer DRAM sales, reaching 115 million dollars.

TrendForce forecasted, “The contract price increase for general-purpose DRAM in the third quarter is expected to slow to between 13% and 18% compared to the previous quarter.” This reflects demand shifting from high-capacity server memory (RDIMM) to lower-capacity products, as well as limits to PC and smartphone manufacturers’ ability to absorb price increases. However, “consumer DRAM is expected to maintain a strong price uptrend due to supply reductions,” adding, “overall DRAM supply will gradually expand as the three major suppliers accelerate their transition to advanced processes from this year into next year.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.