[Edaily Reporter JAEMIN SONG ] SamsungElectronics secured the top spot in the global DRAM market for the second consecutive quarter, recording a 38% market share in the first quarter of this year. In the High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) market, SK hynix maintained its lead with a 58% market share. However, China’s pursuit in the memory sector was also formidable.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 25th, SamsungElectronics ranked first in the global DRAM market in the first quarter of this year with a 38% market share based on revenue. SK hynix followed with 29%, and Micron accounted for 22%.

SamsungElectronics had ceded the top spot to SK hynix in the first and second quarters of last year, but after tying for first place with a 33% share in the third quarter of last year, it reclaimed the top position starting in the fourth quarter. Notably, the gap between SamsungElectronics and SK hynix, which stood at 4 percentage points in the fourth quarter of last year, widened to 9 percentage points in the first quarter of this year.

The DRAM market as a whole also continued to grow significantly. Counterpoint Research analyzed that the DRAM market size in the first quarter of this year grew by 80% compared to the previous quarter and by 260% compared to the same period last year. China’s Changxin Memory Technology (CXMT) also increased its presence by raising its market share from 3% last year to 8% this year.

In the HBM market, SK hynix maintained its top position with a 58% market share. SamsungElectronics and Micron each recorded 21%. Although SK hynix’s market share was lower than the 69% recorded in the first quarter of last year, it still exceeded 50% and continued to lead the market.

Counterpoint Research projected that SamsungElectronics is likely to expand its HBM market share in the future as it begins supplying HBM4 to NVIDIA for the first time. While the majority of HBM revenue currently comes from HBM3E, HBM4 shipments are expected to ramp up in earnest starting in the second half of this year.

In the NAND market, SamsungElectronics ranked first with a 29% market share. SK hynix followed with 18%, Kioxia with 14%, and Micron, SanDisk, and Yangtze Memory Technology (YMTC) each recorded 13%.

Notably, YMTC increased its market share from 8% in the first quarter of last year to 13% this year, driven by memory supply shortages and rising prices, indicating that Chinese companies are now gaining ground not only in the DRAM market but also in the NAND market.