The global market for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is anticipated to grow 16 percent on-year in 2015, data showed Monday, casting a brighter outlook for South Korea’s two tech giants who dominate nearly 70 percent of the market.
According to the data compiled by industry tracker DRAMeXchange, the combined market size for DRAM products is expected to reach $54.1 billion next year, helped by robust demand from smartphones and tablet PCs.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. accounted for 68.2 percent of the world market in the third quarter, an all-time high. U.S.-based Micron Technology had around 20 percent.
The market share of DRAM products for mobile devices, estimated at about 36 percent of the total, is also anticipated to rise to 40 percent in 2015, according to DRAMeXchange.
Samsung had 50.7 percent of the mobile DRAM market in the July-September period, up from 45.4 percent a quarter earlier.
The growth came as Samsung resumed supplying its 20-nano level mobile DRAM products for Apple‘s latest flagship smartphone, the iPhone 6. The U.S. firm had resorted to SK hynix and Micron Technology Inc. for the chips in the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s.
Samsung resumed supplying to Apple after the two agreed to end ongoing patent lawsuits outside of the United States.
SK hynix’s share in the mobile DRAM sector reached 27.6 percent in the third quarter. (Yonhap)
