SK Hynix Overtakes Samsung Electronics to Rank First in Memory Market Sales

[Financial News] SK Hynix surpassed Samsung Electronics to claim the top spot in global memory semiconductor market sales for the first time in the second quarter of this year. The dominance in the high bandwidth memory (HBM) market is seen as driving sales growth. 
According to global market research firm Counterpoint Research on July 31, SK Hynix recorded sales of 21.8 trillion won in the overall memory market, including DRAM and NAND, in the second quarter. During the same period, Samsung Electronics' memory semiconductor sales amounted to 21.2 trillion won, with a gap of about 600 billion won between the two companies. 
Earlier this month, Counterpoint Research announced based on provisional data that the two companies were tied for first place in sales in the second quarter, but as each company disclosed their second-quarter results, it was revealed that SK Hynix had overtaken Samsung Electronics. This is the first time SK Hynix has surpassed Samsung Electronics in the memory sector. 
HBM technology played a key role. SK Hynix, which recorded a massive deficit of 3.4 trillion won in the first quarter of 2023, succeeded in rebounding its performance by improving production efficiency and strengthening its technology-centered strategy. 
On the other hand, Samsung Electronics failed to meet market expectations due to the impact of HBM sluggishness. Samsung Electronics' HBM market share plummeted from 41% in the second quarter of last year to 17% in the second quarter of this year. The decline in market share is interpreted as being due to export restrictions to China and delays in securing trust in HBM products. 
Counterpoint Research stated, "For Samsung Electronics to recover its lagging market share, diversifying sales channels for HBM3E (5th generation HBM) and passing NVIDIA's quality tests are crucial," adding, "Considering that Samsung Foundry (semiconductor contract manufacturing) recently succeeded in securing orders from Tesla, we can expect an overall improvement in Samsung's performance in the future." 

soup@fnnews.com Im Subin Reporter