Samsung stayed on top of the global NAND revenue that reached $46 billion during the first quarter of 2026 as AI infrastructure spending accelerated across data centers and pushed demand to levels rarely seen before.

According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung held a 29 percent market share in Q1 2026 Global NAND Market. Enterprise SSDs accounted for 43% of total NAND revenue, while analysts expect that figure to approach 60% this year.

SK Hynix was the world’s second biggest NAND seller, securing 18 percent share. Kioxia and Micron followed with 3rd and 4th position, seizing 14% and 13% share, respectively, with Sandisk completing top 5 with 13% share.

China’s YMTC increased its NAND market share to 13% from 8% a year earlier as domestic demand strengthened and supply shortages supported shipments. Annual revenue expansion reached roughly 445% according to estimates.

AI servers require larger storage deployments across multiple workloads. That trend continues to reshape vendor rankings as suppliers compete for contracts tied to expanding cloud capacity and enterprise infrastructure projects.

Counterpoint Research Director MS Hwang said the expected capital injection may help YMTC move ahead of Kioxia and Micron.

Commenting on this trajectory, MS Hwang, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, noted:

“If YMTC secures extra capital through this IPO, it will be fully equipped to scale up operations. Under this scenario, we expect YMTC to surpass both Kioxia and Micron, widen its lead to emerge as the world’s No. 3 NAND player.”

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