Samsung extends lead in booming DRAM market driven by AI demand and advanced memory products

Samsung Electronics has solidified its dominance in the global DRAM industry during Q2 2026, capitalising on rising memory prices and AI infrastructure growth to post its best quarterly performance in years, while rivals struggle with pricing and supply chain delays.

Samsung Electronics widened its lead in the DRAM market in the second quarter of 2026 as a sharp rise in memory prices and stronger shipments into artificial intelligence infrastructure lifted industry revenue to one of the fastest quarterly gains in years. Data published by TrendForce on Monday put Samsung on 39.4 per cent of global DRAM revenue, with the market research group saying the company was helped by early mass production of HBM4 and the strongest shipment growth among the three largest suppliers.

TrendForce said total DRAM industry revenue reached about US$154.73 billion in the April-to-June period, up 59.5 per cent from the first quarter. On that measure, Samsung’s DRAM revenue rose 63.4 per cent to US$60.98 billion. SK hynix remained in second place, but its share fell to 24.9 per cent even as revenue increased 37.9 per cent to US$38.59 billion. Micron moved closer to the Korean pair, with revenue up 65.5 per cent to US$36.0 billion and market share rising to 23.3 per cent.

The mechanics of Samsung’s gain matter as much as the headline ranking. TrendForce and NewsPim both said the company benefited from the strongest bit shipment expansion of the leading group, as well as sharply higher average selling prices. They also pointed to early HBM4 production and shipments, a notable advantage at a time when large language model training, AI inference workloads, HBM3E, LPDDR5X and high-capacity server memory modules were all supporting demand across the market.

That picture was less favourable for SK hynix, whose business mix left it more exposed to weaker pricing in high-bandwidth memory. Seoul Economic Daily, citing Counterpoint Research, said Samsung was helped by a larger share of conventional DRAM sales just as commodity memory prices rose faster than HBM prices. MoneyToday reported that SK hynix’s heavier HBM mix, weaker HBM3E pricing, delays to HBM4 and long-term supply agreements struck before the latest market jump all limited how far it could convert demand into revenue growth.

Other trackers broadly confirm Samsung’s return to the top, even if they disagree on the exact numbers. Counterpoint’s late-August analysis put Samsung on 39 per cent of second-quarter DRAM revenue, SK hynix on 26 per cent and Micron on 25 per cent. MoneyToday’s English report, also citing Counterpoint, used a slightly different cut again, giving Samsung 38.2 per cent and SK hynix 25.4 per cent, with total market revenue at US$152.224 billion rather than TrendForce’s US$154.73 billion. The differing estimates underline methodology gaps between research firms, but not the direction of travel: Samsung led, SK hynix lost share and Micron advanced.

Counterpoint’s interpretation is that AI demand is reshaping the ranking rather than merely lifting all vendors equally. Its analysis said Samsung had returned to a market share last seen in 2024, while SK hynix’s quarterly revenue still surged year on year despite its weaker relative position. SamMobile, drawing on the same dataset, said Samsung had now held the top spot for a third straight quarter. Counterpoint and Seoul Economic Daily also highlighted the rise of China’s CXMT, which the research house said had increased its share to 7 per cent, adding a fourth competitor with growing weight in the market.

There are also signs that the current phase of the cycle may not continue at the same speed. TrendForce expects price growth in conventional DRAM to moderate in the third quarter to between 13 and 18 per cent from the previous quarter. Even so, it said supply in consumer DRAM has been cut back sharply, server DRAM demand remains firm and the major manufacturers are likely to concentrate on migrations to more advanced production nodes through 2026 and 2027.

That leaves Samsung with momentum, but not a settled victory. Counterpoint expects HBM prices to recover in the second half of 2026, which could ease some of the pressure on rivals with a larger exposure to premium AI memory. For now, however, the market is rewarding volume, timing and product mix. As an industry insider told MoneyToday: “With further price increases for general-purpose DRAM expected in the third quarter, Samsung’s performance is likely to grow even more.”