Top Three Suppliers Held 94% of 2021 DRAM Marketshare

IC Insights’ 112-page May 2Q Update to The McClean Report 2022 is now available for subscribers to download. It includes a current outlook for the 2022 global economy, detailed market, unit shipment, and ASP forecasts for IC and O-S-D products through 2026, 2021 semiconductor supplier rankings by product type, the 1Q22 top-25 semiconductor supplier ranking, an analysis of the IC market by region with additional focus on the China market, semiconductor R&D spending trends, and an overview of various government-sponsored investment programs targeting the semiconductor industry. Over the past 30 years, the DRAM market has been characterized by periods of spectacular growth and years of devastating crashes (Figure 1). Most recently, the DRAM market fell 37% in 2019 but soared 42% in 2021. No matter the cause—and there are many—boom-bust cycles have lowered the number of major DRAM suppliers from 20 in the mid-1990s to just six today. The three largest suppliers—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—collectively held 94% DRAM marketshare in 2021 (Figure 2). South Korea-based Samsung and SK Hynix accounted for 71.3% of the world’s DRAM sales last y