HBM market witnessed a major shift in the third quarter, with Samsung upscaling its ranking. SK Hynix and Micron are the biggest Samsung rivals in the memory industry, but the third quarter was good enough for Samsung.

Counterpoint Research revealed that Samsung improved its ranking in the global HBM market and jumped to the second spot. SK Hynix led the market with shipments of more than half, while two big slices went to Samsung and Micron.

• SK Hynix – 57 percent
• Samsung – 22 percent
• Micron – 21 percent

Samsung’s market share rose by 7 percent QoQ. The company gained from the slice of SK Hynix, which declined from 64 percent in Q2 to 57 percent in Q3. Meanwhile, Micron remained at 21 percent during the same period.

The company has overtaken US-based Micron to become the second biggest HBM memory maker in Q3 2026. The South Korean tech giant has reclaimed second place by overtaking Micron after three quarters.

In Q4 2024, Samsung was the runner-up with a 40% share, trailing SK Hynix (51%). However, its market share fell to 13 percent and 15 percent in the first and second quarters of this year, respectively, losing to Micron.

Counterpoint Research explained, “Samsung Electronics, which faced difficulties in the first half of the year due to export restrictions to China, saw a slight increase in market share in the third quarter thanks to the strong performance of HBM3E (5th generation).”

Regarding the total DRAM market for the third quarter, the rankings remained unchanged for the third consecutive quarter since SK Hynix first took the lead in Q1:

• SK Hynix: 34 percent
• Samsung: 33 percent
• Micron: 26 percent

Counterpoint Research noted, “The overall DRAM market grew 26% quarter-on-quarter, driven by increased shipments and rising prices. A supply shortage has emerged as major suppliers reduced the production of conventional (commodity) DRAM.”

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