SK Hynix Inc., the world’s current second-largest memory chipmaker, took the second spot in the global smartphone NAND flash market. The South Korean memory semiconductor supplier outperformed Kioxia Holdings Corp., a Japanese computer memory maker.
Strategy Analytics Inc., a company specializing in industry and consumer research, stated that Samsung Electronics held the highest smartphone memory (DRAM and NAND) market revenue share, earning 49%, during 2021’s first quarter.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix secured a 23% smartphone memory market share, and Micron Technology obtained 14%. The three companies also acquired more than 80% of the global smartphone memory market share.
Strategy Analytics’ research also indicated that SK Hynix moved to the NAND flash market’s second place with a 20% revenue share in the same timespan. Moreover, Samsung took the top spot with a 42% revenue share, while Kioxia held 19%.
Maintaining the Second Place
According to SK Hynix, the smartphone end-market recovery increased high-density memory chip orders from customers for many smartphone model applications. The company also noted that the heightened 5G smartphone demand drove the smartphone memory market growth faster, bringing profits higher.
Over the recent months, SK Hynix has been cultivating its NAND flash sector presence, increasing its marketing and pricing initiatives. For instance, SK Hynix vowed to invest more in memory production to address the electronics industry’s rising memory chip demand.
As a result, industry analysts projected that SK Hynix would retain its second place in the second quarter. Industry analysts also acclaimed SK Hynix’s proactivity in tackling NAND flash demands from industry-leading companies, including Apple and Samsung.
Addressing the MCP Demand
Furthermore, SK Hynix and other chipmakers experienced boosts in their shares due to the ever-growing multi-chip package (MCP) memory solution demand. MCPs deliver ultra-high capacities by combining numerous chips into a single module.
The demand for smartphone MCPs integrating NAND flashes with DRAM chips significantly grew since smartphone owners use higher data amounts. In the same vein, SK Hynix ranked fourth in the overall NAND flash market with a 12.2% revenue share.
SK Hynix’s NAND Marketing Vice President Park Chan-Dong also stated that SK Hynix plans to grow its NAND flash sales following smartphone manufacturers’ increasing high-capacity MCP application.
Analysts also forecasted that SK Hynix would take second place in the overall NAND flash market after obtaining an Intel business unit. Previously in October 2020, SK Hynix allocated $9 billion to acquire Intel’s NAND memory and storage business.
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