DRAM: SK Hynix pulls away from the former world market leader
SK Hynix is now by far the largest DRAM manufacturer in the world. The company is growing faster than Samsung's memory division.
(Image: heise medien)
All notable manufacturers of DRAM components, such as for RAM, are growing. In absolute terms, SK Hynix is benefiting the most: its turnover grew by almost 26% from the first to the second quarter of 2025 to a good 12.2 billion US dollars. Samsung benefited less strongly, with growth of just under 14% to 10.4 billion dollars.
The figures come from market observer Trendforce, which estimates the pure sales figures for DRAM components and enables a direct comparison using average conversion rates. In its own annual report, Samsung, for example, only reports the turnover of its entire memory division in won currency, including NAND flash for SSDs.
(Image:Â Trendforce)
Samsung replaced
SK Hynix is establishing itself as the DRAM manufacturer with the highest turnover after decades of Samsung dominance. SK Hynix accounts for 38.7 percent of global DRAM sales, with Samsung accounting for 32.7 percent. Both manufacturers come from South Korea.
Micron from the USA is the third DRAM manufacturer among the big three. However, with an increase of just under six percent to seven billion dollars, Micron is growing the least. The fourth-largest manufacturer, Nanya from Taiwan, is miles behind with a turnover of 341 million dollars.
In relative terms, some Taiwanese manufacturers are growing the fastest: Nanya by 56 percent, PSMC by as much as 86.4 percent. However, with market shares of 0.1 to 1.1 percent, they are living a niche existence.
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High storage requirements due to AI
The three global market leaders are benefiting from the hype surrounding AI, as hyperscalers and their suppliers are buying masses of memory for their data centers. SK Hynix appears to be benefiting in particular from high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for Nvidia. Samsung is said to have had problems with Nvidia's certification for AI accelerators with the HBM3 and later HBM3e generation, which delayed deliveries.
In the second quarter, older DDR4 chips still reduced the average prices of memory manufacturers. However, the tide could currently be turning: Because manufacturers are converting their production lines, DDR4 supply is scarce. At the same time, PC, server and electronics manufacturers are buying up the remaining stock for their systems. As a result, DDR4 prices are exploding, which could fuel growth once again in the current quarter.
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