SK Hynix’s NAND FLASH Market Share to Exceed 20% for the First Time

SK Hynix’s global NAND flash memory market share is expected to surpass 20% for the first time this year. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has decided to take personal charge of the NAND business, which is expected to accelerate the process of narrowing the gap with market leader Samsung Electronics.Industry insiders stated on November 18th that SK Hynix’s global NAND market share, calculated by sales (according to IDC statistics), has increased by more than 10 percentage points over the past four years, growing from 11.7% in 2020 to 22.5% in the second quarter of this year. Although SK Hynix acquired Intel’s NAND division and launched Solidigm in 2021, the expansion of its market share was not as rapid as anticipated, rising from 13.7% in 2021 to 19% in 2022, but almost stagnating at 19.2% last year. The semiconductor economic downturn had a significant impact on Solidigm’s ongoing deficits.

Solidigm has steadily reduced its deficits and successfully turned a profit in the second quarter of this year (net profit of 7.86 billion won). Due to increased investment in AI data centers, the demand for high-capacity enterprise SSDs (eSSDs) has surged, and Solidigm’s competitiveness in this market has been rewarded. Only Samsung Electronics and Solidigm possess quad-level cell (QLC) NAND technology. NAND is categorized into SLC, MLC, TLC, and QLC based on data storage methods. Compared to SLC with the same cell, QLC can store four times more data, easily achieving high capacity and improving production cost efficiency.Due to sluggish demand in PCs and mobile devices, SK Hynix’s NAND shipments in the third quarter decreased compared to the previous quarter. However, profitability was maintained at a level similar to the second quarter because the average selling price (ASP) of high-value eSSDs increased by about 10% from the previous quarter. eSSDs accounted for more than 60% of SK Hynix’s NAND sales in the third quarter.Thanks to the continued strong demand for eSSDs, SK Hynix’s annual NAND market share this year is expected to exceed 20% for the first time. During a conference call to announce the third-quarter results, SK Hynix stated, “Although the NAND market share calculated by volume may decrease this year, we anticipate an increase in the market share calculated by sales compared to last year.”SK Hynix is poised to accelerate the reduction of the market share gap with Samsung Electronics, whose NAND market share is in the mid-30% range. SK Hynix aims to increase its market share with a focus on high-value products such as high-capacity eSSDs. The company recently launched a new eSSD product capable of achieving 122TB, the largest capacity for NAND solutions. There are also predictions that with Chairman Chey Tae-won recently taking over as the chairman of the Solidigm board, the NAND business will be further strengthened.