[Edaily Reporter SOYEON KIM ] Driven by the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, demand for enterprise SSDs (eSSDs) has exploded, leading to steep growth in the global NAND flash market. SamsungElectronics and SK hynix maintained their positions as the top two players in the NAND market.

According to market research firm TrendForce on the 18th, the total revenue of the top five global NAND companies in the second quarter of this year surged 77% quarter-over-quarter to $68.87 billion. This was driven by a shortage in supply caused by expanding demand for AI servers, coupled with manufacturers raising contract prices, which pushed up the average selling price (ASP).

TrendForce analyzed, “As demand for enterprise SSDs, particularly for AI servers, increased, NAND flash supply became scarce, and the average selling price (ASP) rose significantly as manufacturers raised contract prices.”

TrendForce projected that the upward trend in NAND ASPs and revenue growth would continue in the third quarter, driven by strong demand for eSSDs for AI servers and limited capacity expansion.

In terms of market share, SamsungElectronics and SK hynix retained the top two spots. Micron posted the most notable revenue growth, jumping to third place.

SamsungElectronics maintained its top position with revenue of $23.0593 billion, a 70.7% increase from the previous quarter. However, as competitors posted higher revenue growth rates, its market share fell by 2.3 percentage points from 31.6% to 29.3%.

SK hynix (including Solidigm), ranked second, recorded revenue of $14.2729 billion—a surge of 89.5%—driven by the full-scale rollout of its 321-layer process and strong sales of Solidigm’s ultra-high-capacity QLC (Quadruple-Level Cell)-based eSSDs. Its market share rose by 0.6 percentage points to 18.2%.

Micron posted the steepest growth. Its revenue surged 99.2% to $11.85 billion. By raising its market share to 15.1%, it overtook Kioxia to take third place.

Kioxia posted revenue of $10.723 billion, a 79.9% increase, but its market share fell slightly from 13.9% to 13.6%. SanDisk also saw revenue rise by 50.7%, but as its growth rate lagged behind that of its competitors, its market share dropped from 13.9% to 11.4%.

TrendForce predicted, “As major NAND flash manufacturers focus their investments on DRAM and High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM), the expansion of new NAND supply will be limited.”