# Micron Cuts DRAM Lead of SK hynix to One Point on HBM Demand *The US chipmaker reached 24% of global DRAM revenue in the second quarter as SK hynix fell to 25%, testing Korean memory pricing power ahead of 2027.* **Published:** October 2, 2026 **By:** Mina Okoro **Section:** Semiconductors & AI Hardware — Cross-border **Format:** Breaking **Confidence:** high **Source:** https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/micron-cuts-dram-lead-sk-hynix-one-point-hbm-479 **Publisher:** East Asia Brief (https://eastasiabrief.com/) --- ## What to know - Micron lifted DRAM revenue share to 24% in Q2 2026, cutting SK hynix's lead to one percentage point - SK hynix saw HBM share fall to 50% from 58% as Samsung rose to 33% and Micron took 18% - Annual contract negotiations for 2027 memory quotas open in November ![Technicians in protective cleanroom suits observe automated semiconductor manufacturing machinery inside a chip fabrication plant. (AI-generated image)](https://eastasiabrief.com/media/2026-10-02-a8f7e73ca22a.webp) *Technicians in protective cleanroom suits observe automated semiconductor manufacturing machinery inside a chip fabrication plant. (AI-generated image)* On Oct. 2, Micron Technology narrowed its global dynamic random-access memory share gap with SK hynix to one percentage point, challenging South Korea's hold on the second market rank. The US chipmaker captured 24% of worldwide DRAM revenue in the second quarter of 2026, according to Counterpoint Research. That marked a two-percentage-point gain from the prior quarter. SK hynix dropped four percentage points to 25% over the same period. The shift reduced the revenue spread between the two memory producers from seven percentage points to one. Samsung Electronics held first place with 38% of global DRAM revenue. China's ChangXin Memory Technologies took fourth place with 10%, expanding from 4% a year earlier. Total DRAM market revenue grew 57% from the first quarter and 385% from a year earlier. The expansion followed heavy procurement of memory hardware for artificial intelligence data centers. The competitive realignment centers on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) — stacks of DRAM dies linked through vertical channels to feed artificial intelligence processors. HBM3E modules now generate the majority of category revenue. SK hynix retained the top position in HBM with a 50% revenue share in the second quarter. The figure fell from 58% in the first quarter and 64% a year earlier. Samsung Electronics increased its HBM revenue share to 33% from 21% in the first quarter. Micron held 18% of global HBM revenue as high-volume shipments of its eight-layer HBM3E modules expanded. Packaging complexity remains the primary operational bottleneck across the sector. Each HBM3E stack requires micro-bump bonding and thermal compression methods that depress final manufacturing yields relative to standard DRAM. Micron posted $54.23 billion in revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Sept. 3, up 379% from $11.32 billion a year earlier. Operating cash flow reached $43.97 billion, the company said. The company recorded an 86.8% gross margin during the quarter. Full-year DRAM revenue crossed $100 billion for the first time in company history, Micron said in its earnings release. For the first quarter of fiscal 2027, Micron projected revenue of $61.5 billion. The target reflects rising contract prices across conventional DRAM and specialized AI memory components. More than 75% of fiscal 2027 production volume is already booked under firm sales contracts, Micron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra said during an analyst call on Sept. 30. Customer commitments, largely cash deposits from buyers securing future production batches, reached $32 billion, Mehrotra said. The company has signed 26 strategic customer agreements through 2030. The rapid commercial adoption reflects procurement adjustments at Nvidia, the principal designer of AI accelerators. Nvidia diversified its memory supply chain to avoid relying on a single Korean manufacturer. Production stabilization at Micron fabrication plants in Taiwan and Japan provided Nvidia with an alternative volume supplier. The added output curtailed the bargaining power Korean memory makers exercised throughout 2025. Cloud computing operators have also started splitting memory allocations across multiple vendors to mitigate production risks. The practice, once confined to standard server modules, now governs advanced high-bandwidth stacks. SK hynix committed substantial factory volume to multi-year supply contracts negotiated early in the memory upcycle. Those arrangements locked in pricing before conventional DRAM prices surged during the spring. SK hynix documented a first-quarter DRAM market share of 29.1% and an HBM share of 56.4% in a Form 424B4 registration statement filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in July. In Beijing, CXMT lifted its revenue 716% year-over-year by expanding domestic shipments of legacy DDR4 and LPDDR4X dies. That expansion freed global tier-one suppliers to repurpose fabrication lines for advanced AI memory. Micron transitioned most of its DRAM wafer starts to its 1-gamma manufacturing node, which uses extreme ultraviolet light. The company plans to begin customer sampling of its 1-delta process in 2027. Samsung countered by accelerating shipments of 12-layer HBM3E and preparing HBM4 base dies produced by its internal foundry unit. The company expects HBM to account for over 60% of its memory revenue. Aggressive capital spending across all three producers has prompted warnings regarding capacity balances. Memory makers are building clean rooms at the fastest pace in more than a decade. Micron raised its planned capital expenditures for fiscal 2027, directing the majority of the capital to clean-room shell construction in Idaho, New York, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore. If cloud service providers trim data-center infrastructure budgets, unabsorbed HBM wafer capacity could be converted to standard server DRAM. Such a shift would exert immediate downward pressure on commodity pricing. Micron has not published standalone quarterly revenue figures for HBM3E, and the company did not disclose its exact shipment allocation to Nvidia in its public filings. Suppliers and cloud infrastructure operators begin annual contract negotiations for 2027 memory allocations in November, while Micron publishes its fiscal first-quarter financial results on Dec. 17. ## Impact map | Event | Korea | China | Japan | Global impact | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Micron DRAM share surge | SK hynix DRAM share narrows to 25%, HBM share drops 8 points to 50% | CXMT gains 10% DRAM share, backfilling legacy DDR4 lines | Micron ramps Hiroshima 1-gamma clean room for 2027 HBM production | Nvidia secures multi-source HBM3E supply, trimming memory pricing premiums | ## In this story - **Companies:** Micron Technology, SK hynix, Samsung Electronics - **Tickers:** MU, 000660.KS, 005930.KS - **Exposed:** Nvidia, ChangXin Memory Technologies - **Policy:** Subsidies - **Impact:** Supply Chain, Pricing, Capex ## Primary sources 1. micron.com 2. sec.gov 3. newspim.com 4. edaily.co.kr 5. counterpointresearch.com --- Cite as: East Asia Brief, "Micron Cuts DRAM Lead of SK hynix to One Point on HBM Demand," October 2, 2026. https://eastasiabrief.com/semiconductors/micron-cuts-dram-lead-sk-hynix-one-point-hbm-479