Global sales of NAND flash chips slightly grew in the third quarter as industry leaders such as Samsung Electronics Co. cut output, a report showed on Tuesday.
Total revenue of NAND flash chips rose 2.9% to $9.2 billion in the July-September period from the previous three months, according to the Taiwanese technology industry analysts firm TrendForce Corp.
“As market leaders like Samsung implemented substantial production cuts, buyers’ attitudes shifted toward a more aggressive procurement strategy in anticipation of a market supply decrease,” TrendForce said in a research note. “This led to a stabilization and even an uptick in NAND flash contract prices by quarter-end.”
Samsung, the world’s largest memory chipmaker, logged NAND flash chip revenue of $2.9 billion in the third quarter, similar to sales in the second, keeping its leadership in the segment although its market share dipped to 31.4% from 32.3%, TrendForce said.
SK HYNIX RECLAIMS NO. 2 FROM KIOXIA
SK Hynix Inc. and its NAND flash-making subsidiary Solidigm won back the No. 2 position in the world’s NAND flash chip market from Kioxia Holdings Corp., according to the analysis firm.
SK Hynix and Solidigm reported a combined NAND flash chip sales of $1.9 billion in the July-September period, up 11.9% on-quarter while increasing their market share to 20.2% from 18.6%.
Kioxia, which had been the second-largest NAND flash chip maker since the third quarter of 2022, slipped to No. 4 with its market share down to 14.5% from 16.3%. The Japanese chipmaker’s sales of NAND flash chips fell 8.6% to $1.3 billion due to a delay in orders from US smartphone makers, TrendForce said. (Courtesy of TrendForce) US-based Western Digital Corp. ranked No. 3 as its NAND flash chip revenue advanced 13% to $1.6 billion with its market shares up to 16.9% from 15.3%.
“Other industry giants like SK Group (SK Hynix & Solidigm) and WDC rode the wave of renewed demand in consumer electronics,” TrendForce said, referring to Western Digital Corp.
