Samsung expands presence in server DRAM market

SEOUL, Aug. 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's top tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. topped the global market for server dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips in the first quarter, data showed Tuesday, casting a brighter outlook for its earnings amid the cloudy outlook over the PC and mobile DRAM segments. Samsung took up 46.9 percent of sales in the world's server DRAM market in the January-March period, up 4.5 percentage points on-year, according to the data compiled by industry tracker IHS. Its smaller local rival SK hynix Inc. also accounted for 33.5 percent of the market, down 1.7 percentage points over the cited period, the data showed. The combined share posted by South Korean players came to 80.4 percent. U.S.-based Micron Technology Inc. followed with a 17.5 percent share of the server DRAM market, down 4.2 percentage points from a year earlier, with other rivals posting a combined share of 2.1 percent. The combined size of the server DRAM market is estimated at US$8 billion in 2015 and is expected to keep growing to reach $8.4 billion in 2016 and $13.4 billion in 2019. The overall DRAM market is anticipated to reach $48.6 billion this year, compared with $46.2 billion in 2014. Industry watchers said Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are set to tap deeper into the server DRAM sector to meet the growing demand. Last month, Samsung said the server DRAM is set to lead the overall DRAM market in the second half of 2015, adding that it will also speed up efforts to tap deeper into the 20 nanometer technology and cut production costs. Samsung posted an operating profit of 3.4 trillion won ($2.91 billion) from its chip business in the second quarter, up 82.8 percent on-year. It marked the first time for the chip business to rake in more than 3 trillion won in quarterly profits since the third quarter of 2010. colin@yna.co.kr (END)