Global DRAM Market Share Shuffle in Q1: Samsung's Expands to 40%, ChangXin Joins the Top Four

In the first quarter of 2026, the global DRAM market continued its strong growth momentum, with all four major manufacturers recording significant sequential revenue growth. Among them, Samsung further solidified its leading position, and Chinese manufacturer ChangXin Memory became the biggest highlight with a sequential growth rate of more than double.

According to CFM flash memory market data, the total global DRAM revenue scale expanded significantly in the first quarter, with the top-tier structure remaining basically stable but the share gap widening. Samsung maintained its leading position with a 40.5% market share, widening the gap with SK Hynix; ChangXin Memory's market share rose to 7.7%, continuously eroding the tail-end share.

For investors, this set of data reveals two main lines of interest. Firstly, although HBM demand is hot, the pulling effect on the traditional DRAM market has diverged among different manufacturers. Secondly, the catch-up speed of China's DRAM production capacity is accelerating.

Samsung Re-opens the Gap

Samsung's DRAM sales revenue in the first quarter reached 38.214 billion US dollars, with a sequential growth of 98.4%, and a market share of 40.5%. This growth rate is second only to ChangXin Memory among the four manufacturers, indicating that Samsung's dual advantage in traditional DRAM and advanced process products is being realized.

It is worth noting that the revenue gap between Samsung and the second-placed SK Hynix, which had narrowed in the previous quarter, has widened again, reflecting Samsung's flexibility in product combination and capacity allocation.

SK Hynix's revenue during the same period was 27.925 billion US dollars, with a sequential growth of 62.1%, and a market share of 29.6%. Its growth rate is the lowest among the four, with CFM data showing that it is related to its higher proportion of HBM supply. Although HBM products have a high unit price, the shipment rhythm is different from traditional DRAM, which to some extent lowers the overall sequential performance.

Micron Holds Steady in Third Place

Micron's DRAM revenue in the first quarter was 18.768 billion US dollars, with a sequential growth of 73.6%, and a market share of 19.9%. It should be noted that Micron's fiscal year corresponds to December 2025 to February 2026, which has a time difference from the natural quarter of other manufacturers.

From the perspective of market share, the gap between Micron and the top two is still significant, but a market share of nearly 20% means that it still occupies a solid position in the enterprise and data center markets.

ChangXin Memory Accelerates the Catch-Up

ChangXin Memory is the fastest growing manufacturer this quarter, with DRAM sales revenue reaching 7.309 billion US dollars, with a sequential growth of 115.1%, and market share further increasing to 7.7% from previous levels.

Although its absolute size still has an order of magnitude difference with the top three, the high-speed growth for several consecutive quarters indicates that ChangXin's share expansion in the consumer and mid-low-end DRAM markets is accelerating. Analysis suggests that domestic replacement demand and the downstream customers' supply chain diversification strategy are important factors supporting ChangXin's growth.