Samsung DRAM Market Share Drops Below 35%

According to South Korean media reports, Samsung Electronics' recently released mid-year financial report reveals a decline in its global DRAM market share. In the first half of 2025, Samsung held 32.7% of the market by revenue, down 8.8 percentage points from 41.5% in the same period of 2024, sparking concerns over its leading position.

Analysts attribute the drop mainly to underperformance in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sales. HBM, a key component for AI semiconductors, plays a crucial role in Samsung's competitiveness. To reverse the trend, the company is actively conducting quality tests with major clients, aiming to secure large-scale HBM deals.

Historically, Samsung's DRAM market share peaked at 48% in 2016 after standing at 39.6% in 2014, but has been on a downward trajectory since. Falling below 40% again in the first half of 2025 highlights the intensifying competition in the memory market.

Other business areas showed relative stability. Samsung's smartphone shipments and television revenue reached 19.9% and 28.9% market share, up 1.6 and 0.6 percentage points from 2024, respectively. Meanwhile, smartphone panels and digital cockpit market shares slipped from 41% and 12.5% to 39.9% and 12.1%.

Regionally, the Americas led sales with 33.4 trillion KRW (around $240 billion), while China posted 28.8 trillion KRW, down roughly 11% year-on-year. Asia & Africa and Europe generated 20.8 trillion KRW and 15.8 trillion KRW, respectively.

In end-products, the Device eXperience (DX) division saw average prices rise 12% for mobile application processors (Mobile AP) and 8% for camera modules. Compensation for Young Hyun Jun, head of the Semiconductor & Device Solutions (DS) division, and DX acting head Roh Tae-moon reached 1.19 billion KRW and 1.195 billion KRW, respectively.

Samsung reported investing 18 trillion KRW in R&D during H1 2025, filing 5,005 patents in Korea and 4,594 in the U.S., reflecting its ongoing commitment to technological innovation.