Global NAND memory market revenue hit a record high in the first quarter of this year, boosted by expanded investment in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
According to the global NAND memory market tracker that Counterpoint Research released on the 4th, first-quarter global NAND market revenue reached $46 billion (about 70 trillion won). That was 3.5 times higher than a year earlier and up about 90% from the previous quarter.
AI demand drove market growth. Enterprise SSDs (eSSD) for servers accounted for 43% of total NAND market revenue in the first quarter of this year and are expected to exceed 60% by year-end. First-quarter NAND market revenue already surpassed the full-year 2023 market size.
Korean corporations maintained a lead. Samsung Electronics ranked No. 1 with a 29% share, followed by SK hynix at 18%.
However, the race for third place among Kioxia, Micron, SanDisk, and YMTC is intensifying. In particular, China's YMTC is standing out. YMTC's market share rose to 13% in the first quarter of this year from 8% a year earlier. Analysts said price increases due to memory supply shortages and rising demand in China had an impact.
Like CXMT, YMTC is pursuing an initial public offering (IPO), and competition is expected to heat up further once it lists.
Hwang Min-sung, research director at Counterpoint Research, said, "If YMTC secures additional funds through an IPO listing, it can embark on a full-fledged scale-up," and added, "In that case, YMTC could overtake Kioxia and Micron and even eye third place."