Samsung is going through one of its most challenging times. The company's over-reliance on its semiconductor chip business has almost brought it down to its knees in the second quarter of this year. The South Korean firm's memory chip business posted a loss for the first time since its inception. However, it is still the world's number-one memory chip maker.
According to a report from market research firm Omdia (via YNA), Samsung retained its top spot in the global memory chip market despite lackluster earnings during the first quarter of the year. Its global DRAM market share during the three-month period was 42.8%, similar to the quarter earlier. Samsung's DRAM revenue was around $4.01 billion during Q1 2023, a 61% drop from $10.35 billion in Q1 2022. Compared to Q4 2022, the company's revenue dropped 25.2%.
SK Hynix, on the other hand, dropped from the second position to the third position in the global ranking. Its market share dropped 2.3% points to 24.7% in Q1 2023. The firm makes most of its revenue from selling memory chips, and it reported a loss of $2.5 billion during the first three months of this year. The US-based firm Micron jumped to the second position with a market share of 27.2% during the same period.
In the NAND flash (storage chip) market, Samsung ranked number one as well. Its market share was 34.2% in Q1 2023. Its market share increased by 0.4% points despite a sharp fall in revenue. Its revenue from selling NAND flash chips during the quarter was $2.99 billion, almost half of the $6.33 billion it achieved in Q1 2022. Samsung is now focusing on the development of DDR5 DRAM and HBM memory.
