Samsung Narrows Gap with SK hynix in Global HBM Chip Market in Q2

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. narrowed the gap with market leader SK hynix Inc. in the global high bandwidth memory (HBM) chip market in the second quarter, industry data showed Thursday.

According to the data compiled by industry tracker Counterpoint Research, SK hynix maintained its No. 1 position with a 50 percent share of the market by revenue in the April-June period. However, its share fell 8 percentage points from 58 percent in the previous quarter.

In contrast, Samsung Electronics significantly increased its market share from 21 percent in the first quarter to 33 percent in the second quarter.

Micron Technology Inc., the No. 3 player, saw its market share decline slightly to 18 percent from 21 percent in the previous quarter.

According to Counterpoint Research, most HBM revenue currently comes from HBM3E, the fifth-generation product, while shipments of sixth-generation HBM4 are expected to become more visible in the second half of this year.

Counterpoint Research forecast that Samsung's market share will gradually increase further as the company ramps up shipments of its HBM4 products.

HBM is a core component for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, with demand rising rapidly as the memory chip significantly boosts data-processing speeds at data centers.