Market Dominance
According to semiconductor e-commerce site DRAMeXchange on Feb. 12, the combined share of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix in the global DRAM market reached a record high of 70.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year. The top-ranked company Samsung saw its share decrease from 41.7 percent in Q3 to 41.4 percent in Q4 2014. However, SK Hynix was the top contributor in achieving the highest-ever combined market share by increasing its number from 26.0 percent to 27.7 percent during the same period.
The combined market share is actually 69.1 percent, though. However, when calculating companies' regional share of the DRAM market dominated by Korean, U.S., and Taiwanese companies, firms from other countries are not included. As a result, the two Korean firms' combined share rises to 70.4 percent.
Three major companies' market dominance is more noticeable in terms of sales. Samsung turned over US$5.369 billion in Q4 2014, up 7.0 percent from the previous quarter. SK Hynix saw its sales increase 12.9 percent quarter-on-quarter to reach US$3.63 billion in Q4 2014. Micron Technology also witnessed an 8.9 percent increase in sales, higher than the average 8.0 percent of the total DRAM growth rate. However, the gap with the second-largest DRAM supplier SK Hynix in the market has further widened.
Industry analysts are saying that the three companies are likely to continue their strength in the market, since the gap between companies in micro process technology is widening. Samsung has already started to mass produce 20 nm DRAM one or two years ahead of its rival companies.
SK Hynix is sharpening its competitiveness in the mobile DRAM market as well, as witnessed by its supply of 25 nm DRAM to mobile device manufacturers. The LPDDR4 mobile DRAM is standardized by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC), and the module is said to be twice as fast as the DDR3 DRAM with up to 32005 Mbps in speeds. Moreover, it consumes 30 percent less power.
In the meantime, Apple has decided to feature 20-nm DRAM in the iPhone 6S, which is rumored to be rolled out in October. The company is said to be considering whether or not it will use 20-nm DRAM, which is only manufactured by Samsung at the moment. SK Hynix has also succeeded in supplying its own mobile DRAM to LG for the G Flex.
An industry source said, “Samsung is dominating the global DRAM market for servers and premium smartphones. SK Hynix is also expanding its reach to the premium smartphone market, based on its good performance in entry-level smartphone and PC markets.” The source added, “So, I think that three major companies' market dominance will be further strengthened.”