Fierce talent competition has prompted Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to ease hiring criteria in the semiconductor industry. (Image courtesy of Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix)
HBM boom propels SK hynix to global leadership in shifting memory landscape
SEOUL, June 5 (Korea Bizwire) — In a historic reshuffling of the global memory chip hierarchy, SK hynix has edged past long-dominant rival Samsung Electronics in dynamic random access memory (DRAM) market share — the first such shift since Samsung took the top spot back in 1992.
According to new data released Thursday by global research firm Omdia, SK hynix claimed 36.9 percent of the global DRAM market in the first quarter of 2025, narrowly overtaking Samsung’s 34.4 percent. It marks a symbolic victory for South Korea’s second-largest chipmaker, long considered the runner-up in a fiercely competitive industry.
The changing of the guard comes amid broader turbulence in the DRAM market. Overall global DRAM sales slipped 9 percent quarter-on-quarter to $26.33 billion between January and March, weighed down by falling contract prices and a short-term lull in shipments of high bandwidth memory (HBM), the next-generation chip technology that’s rapidly redefining industry leadership.
Heightening demands for HBM with the spread of AI (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Yet it is precisely this high-performance memory segment that has fueled SK hynix’s ascent. Riding the momentum of its early dominance in HBM production — a key enabler of generative AI workloads — the company grew its DRAM revenue to $9.72 billion in Q1, surpassing Samsung’s $9.1 billion.
Other research firms, including Counterpoint and TrendForce, echoed Omdia’s findings, placing SK hynix atop the DRAM rankings with a 36 percent share.
Analysts note that SK hynix and U.S.-based Micron have been quick to pivot their portfolios toward HBM, leaving Samsung trailing in the AI memory race — at least for now.
Omdia forecasts that SK hynix will raise the proportion of its most advanced 12-layer HBM3E chips to more than 50 percent of its HBM shipments in Q2, and over 80 percent in the second half of 2025, reinforcing its lead in the high-end memory segment.
For SK hynix, the moment is both strategic and symbolic — a sign that agility in emerging technologies may matter more than legacy dominance in shaping the next era of semiconductor competition.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
