Samsung maintains No. 1 spot in global DRAM market in Q2: report

SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. maintained its dominant status in the global DRAM market in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Wednesday, as the pandemic drove demand for server chips.

Samsung's market share in the global DRAM market stood at 43.5 percent in the April-June period, down 0.6 percentage point from three months earlier, while its revenue increased 13.8 percent to US$7.4 billion over the cited period, according to data from market researcher TrendForce.

Its local competitor SK hynix Inc. came in second with a 30.1 percent market share in the second quarter, up 0.8 percentage point from three months earlier. Its revenue surged 18.7 percent quarter-on-quarter to $5.1 billion in the second quarter of 2020, according to TrendForce.

U.S. chipmaker Micron Technology Inc. took third place with a 21 percent market share in the first quarter, up 0.2 percentage point from three months earlier, as its revenue jumped 16.3 percent quarter-on-quarter to $3.5 billion, TrendForce said.

"The DRAM market saw an increase in both prices and bit shipments, leading to a double-digit rise in revenue for the three suppliers," TrendForce said. "On the matter of profitability, all three leading suppliers posted an increase in their operating margins in the second quarter of 2020 as the overall average selling price rose by around 10 percent."

According to TrendForce, Samsung's operating margin reached 41 percent in the second quarter, up from 32 percent three months ago. SK hynix's operating margin rose to 35 percent in the second quarter.

Regarding their capacity planning, TrendForce said that the three major chipmakers have taken a "more conservative approach" as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to undermine demand visibility.

The global DRAM industry saw forecast-beating growth in the second quarter as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) expanded procurement of components on fears of possible supply chain disruptions amid the pandemic, TrendForce said.

The global DRAM market collected $17.1 billion in revenue in the second quarter, up 15.4 percent from three months ago.

However, TrendForce said that DRAM suppliers are likely to suffer a decline in profitability in the third quarter of the year as chip prices are expected to drop while product shipments stay flat.

"Server OEMs are now carrying a rather high level of DRAM inventory after aggressively stocking up for two consecutive quarters," it said. "At the same time, customers of enterprise servers are holding back on procurement because the economic outlook is getting bleaker and more uncertain."

kdon@yna.co.kr
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