[Edaily JAEMIN SONG Reporter] U.S.-based Micron has increased its market share in the global DRAM market, closing in on second-place SK hynix. The gap in market share between the two companies narrowed from 7 percentage points in the previous quarter to just 1 percentage point.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 2nd, SamsungElectronics maintained its top position in the global DRAM market in the second quarter of this year, recording a 38% market share based on revenue. SK hynix and Micron ranked second and third, with 25% and 24%, respectively.

Compared to the previous quarter, SK hynix and Micron showed diverging trends. SK hynix’s market share, which stood at 29% in the first quarter, fell by 4 percentage points, while Micron’s rose by 2 percentage points from 22% to 24% over the same period. Consequently, the gap in market share between the two companies narrowed from 7 percentage points to 1 percentage point. SamsungElectronics maintained its 38% market share—unchanged from the previous quarter—and retained the top spot for the third consecutive quarter.

Micron also continued its growth momentum in its latest earnings report. Micron posted record quarterly revenue of $54.23 billion (approximately 73.6 trillion won) for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026 (June–August). Its gross margin rose 2.2 percentage points to 86.8% from 84.6% in the previous quarter.

China’s Changxin Memory Technology (CXMT) also expanded its market share. CXMT’s DRAM market share in the second quarter reached 10%, up 2 percentage points from 8% in the previous quarter. This represents more than a doubling compared to the 4% recorded during the same period last year.

In the High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) market, SK hynix maintained its lead. Based on second-quarter revenue, SK hynix held the top spot with a 50% HBM market share, followed by SamsungElectronics at 33% and Micron at 18%. While SK hynix’s market share declined from 58% in the previous quarter, SamsungElectronics’ share rose from 21% to 33%.

Counterpoint Research noted that the majority of HBM revenue is generated by HBM3E and projected that HBM4 shipments will begin in earnest in the second half of this year.

The supply shortage in the memory market is also expected to persist for the time being. Observers note that while memory demand is growing rapidly, particularly in AI data centers, the expansion of new production capacity takes time, which could lead to an even tighter supply-demand balance.

Sanjay Mehrotra, Chairman and CEO of Micron, stated during an earnings conference call on the 30th of last month (local time), “We expect supply and demand to become even tighter in 2027 and 2028 as demand outpaces supply,” adding “More than 75% of our 2027 production volume has already been committed to customers, and most of our current discussions with customers are focused on 2028 volumes,” he said.