SK hynix dethrones Samsung as world’s top DRAM maker

For the first time in more than three decades, Samsung Electronics has been unseated as the world’s top DRAM maker, with SK hynix seizing the crown on the strength of booming demand for AI memory chips and an exclusive supply deal with Nvidia.Samsung Electronics’ global DRAM market share fell by 8.8 percentage points over the past six months — its sharpest decline since the company began disclosing the figure in 1999.According to its semiannual report released on Thursday, Samsung’s DRAM market share based on revenue stood at 32.7 percent in the first half of 2025, down from 41.5 percent at the end of 2024. The previous largest decline was 2.2 percentage points in 2017, when its share dropped from 48 percent the year before to 45.8 percent.Samsung’s DRAM share has now slipped back to the 30-percent range for the first time in a decade, since 2014, when it was 39.6 percent. The key factor has been high bandwidth memory (HBM), a stacked DRAM product in growing demand for AI applications.The more HBM is sold, the more it lifts the DRAM market share overall. Samsung supplies HBM3E to AMD and Broadcom but has yet to break into the supply chain of Nvidia, the dominant AI chipmaker.In contrast, SK hynix, a supplier to Nvidia, has seen its DRAM share climb steadily on the back of the generative AI boom sparked by ChatGPT — from 27.7 percent in 2022 to 29.9 percent in 2023 and 33.4 percent in 2024. In the first half of this year, SK hynix reached 36.3 percent, overtaking Samsung for the first time in 33 years.A major driver of SK hynix’s rise has been its performance in the U.S. market. The company’s U.S. subsidiary, SK hynix America, posted sales of 24.7 trillion won ($17.79 billion) in the first half of this year, up 103 percent from 12.2 trillion won a year earlier.The surge was primarily driven by Nvidia, a client Samsung has yet to secure. Since first delivering HBM3E to Nvidia in March 2024, SK hynix has maintained its position as the chipmaker’s top supplier, with HBM accounting for 54 percent of its DRAM operating profit in the first quarter this year, according to Counterpoint Research.SK hynix has also been stepping up its U.S. Big Tech outreach through its Silicon Valley–based subsidiary, which underwent its first leadership change in four years earlier this year.The new head, CEO Ryu Sung-soo, previously led global sales and marketing for the HBM business. Nvidia representatives visited SK hynix America’s office as recently as July 29 for meetings, underscoring the close collaboration.Investor interest has shifted accordingly. In the first half of this year, SK hynix’s retail shareholder base grew by 21.3 percent, outpacing Samsung’s 18.9 percent increase. Samsung’s retail shareholder count rose from 4.25 million to 5.05 million, while SK hynix’s climbed from 561,747 to 681,671. Analysts say optimism over SK hynix’s dominance in the HBM market is reflected in investor sentiment.“HBM production affects general DRAM output as well. Contract volumes for HBM are the most important factor in the memory market outlook,” said Han Dong-hee, an analyst at SK Securities. “Even if competition intensifies, SK hynix is expected to maintain its edge for the time being.”Samsung said it will seek to expand market share through a diverse DRAM portfolio.“We plan to continue operating with a focus on profitability in the second half,” the company said in its semiannual report, adding that it will actively respond to the trend toward higher-capacity AI servers with products including HBM, high-capacity DDR5 and LPDDR5x for servers.BY LEE GA-RAM [ [email protected]