The old guard of the memory industry is losing its grip faster than the forecasters expected. Counterpoint Research data released September 3 shows Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron together holding 87 percent of DRAM revenue in the second quarter, with China’s CXMT crossing into double digits for the first time.
CXMT took 4 percent of DRAM revenue a year ago, up from virtually nothing in 2023. Its second-quarter reading of 10 percent arrived roughly two years before the 2028 milestone that analysts at Counterpoint and UBS had penciled in.
The growth came first from the 1a-node commodity parts the Korean leaders stepped back from, and now from a push into their home turf. CXMT supplies low-power DRAM for Xiaomi’s latest foldable, is working toward mass production of HBM3E, and is spending fresh IPO proceeds on new fab lines in Shanghai and Hefei. Monthly wafer capacity of about 320,000 is slated to reach 420,000 next year and double again by 2030.
Samsung ended the quarter with 38 percent of revenue, five points better than a year earlier. SK hynix, which spent the period feeding HBM orders, dropped 14 points to 25 percent. Micron followed at 24 percent. Counterpoint director Hwang Min-sung puts 15 percent as the share CXMT must clear to keep investors funding the buildout, and China’s NAND champion Yangtze Memory already holds roughly 13 percent of its market.
