Samsung falls behind SK Hynix in global DRAM market share

If there's one company that has truly benefitted from Samsung's struggles in the DRAM segment, it's the company's cross-town rival SK Hynix. The latest market research shows that Samsung fell behind SK Hynix and took second place in the global DRAM market for Q1 2025 compared to Q4 2024.

Not only did Samsung bring in less revenue compared to SK Hynix, it also suffered a more significant market share loss quarter-over-quarter, highlighting the company's continued struggles to challenge SK Hynix's dominance in the HBM3E segment.

The numbers crunched by TrendForce show that global DRAM revenue hit $27.01 billion in Q1 2025, down 5.5% over the previous quarter. The lower prices are attributed to declining contract values for legacy DRAM products and a slowdown in HBM shipments.

SK Hynix brought in revenues of $9.72 billion even as its shipments declined 7.1% over Q4 2024. The company accounted for 36% of the global DRAM market in Q1 2025. Samsung suffered a more significant 19.1% revenue decline quarter-over-quarter, bringing in revenues of $9.1 billion and claiming a 33.7% market share.

Samsung's inability to sell HBM products directly to China has hurt its bottom line this past quarter. The fact that shipments for its high-priced HBM3E chips haven't really taken off, particularly since the NVIDIA approval is still pending, has also contributed to the drag on its revenues.

For Q2 2025, it's expected that shipment volumes will increase as OEMs and smartphone makers ramp up production ahead of the 90-day US tariff expiry. This may also result in a rebound for DRAM prices, helping suppliers like Samsung and SK Hynix extract more revenue.