SEOUL: Samsung Electronics Co expanded its dominance in the global DRAM market in the second quarter of the year, a report showed, thanks to bullish demand and chip price hikes.

       The South Korean tech giant registered a 43.6% share of the global DRAM flash market in terms of revenue in the April-June period, up 1.6 percentage points from a quarter earlier, according to market tracker TrendForce, Yonhap reported.

       Samsung’s revenue came to US$10.51bil (RM44.32bil) in the second quarter, up 30.2% from a quarter earlier.

       Its growth was above the industry average of 25.6% in the second quarter. With higher-than-expected DRAM shipments and rising prices, global DRAM revenue reached US$24.1bil (RM101.64bil) in the second quarter.

       “On the demand side, buyers showed an increased willingness to expand DRAM procurement because they anticipated that prices will rise even further,” TrendForce said.

       “In addition, frequent shortages of various semiconductor components this year drove buyers to stock up on DRAM ahead of time so as to avoid potential manufacturing bottlenecks due to low DRAM inventory.”

       Another South Korean chipmaker, SK hynix Inc, kept the runner-up spot with a market share of 27.9%, down 1.1 percentage points from a quarter ago. But its revenue increased 20.8% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to US$6.72bil (RM28.34bil).

       US chipmaker Micron Technology Inc was the No. 3 player with a market share of 22.6% in the second quarter, down 0.5 percentage point from a quarter earlier. Its revenue rose 22.6% q-o-q to US$5.44bil (RM22.94bil).

       Regarding profitability, TrendForce said major suppliers also saw big growth on the back of an increase in DRAM quotes and larger shipments of chips manufactured with advanced process technologies. — The Korea Herald/ANN