Widening Gap with Competitors
The market share gap between Samsung Electronics and the others in the global memory chip market is widening again.
According to market research firm IHS Markit, Samsung Electronics is expected to post a market share of 46.6 percent in the global DRAM market in the third quarter of this year. Its market share, which had amounted to close to 47 percent in 2016, dipped below 40 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018 but has been on the increase since the beginning of this year.
In addition, Samsung Electronics’ global NAND flash market share has risen from 32.9 percent to 38.6 percent for the first three quarters of this year.
The global semiconductor market, in the meantime, is coming out of a recession with memory chip prices showing stability. The global DRAM market sales have risen from US$15,087 million to US$16,396 million from Q2 to Q3 this year. The NAND flash market is moving in the same direction, too.
Under the circumstances, Kiwoom Securities said in its recent report that Samsung Electronics’ Q3 operating profit is estimated to reach 7.4 trillion won with a quarter-on-quarter increase of 13 percent and its semiconductor business unit is likely to show a profit improvement surpassing market expectations.