South Korean media: China's another rise, the "big three" dominance in DRAM is showing cracks!
On September 5, South Korea's *Herald Economic* published an article stating that Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC), China's largest DRAM manufacturer, has announced mass production of LPDDR6—the highest-specification mobile DRAM currently available. LPDDR6 is the next-generation product, and even Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have not yet achieved mass production.
YMTC may break the monopoly held by the so-called "big three"—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron—whose combined share exceeds 80% of the global DRAM market. As for Micron, it has not even disclosed any plans for mass-producing LPDDR6.
The industry believes that China’s competitiveness in general-purpose DRAM lags behind by about three years, and in HBM (High Bandwidth Memory) by about four years. However, at this pace of development, the technological gap is nearly negligible.
It is widely believed that the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence will cause memory supply shortages to persist beyond 2030, and the current market environment presents the optimal conditions for China to rapidly enhance its competitiveness.
LPDDR is a low-power mobile DRAM widely used in smartphones and AI PCs. YMTC’s LPDDR6 is designed to support data transfer speeds as high as 12.8 Gbps, targeting the latest smartphones equipped with built-in AI capabilities.
Korean companies are also racing toward mass production. In March this year, SK Hynix announced it had successfully developed 16Gb LPDDR6 using its 10nm-class sixth-generation process technology. The company plans to complete preparations for mass production in the first half of this year and begin supplying products in the second half. SK Hynix stated that the basic operating speed of this product exceeds 10.7 Gbps, offering a 33% improvement in data processing performance and over 20% better energy efficiency compared to existing LPDDR5X.
According to reports, Samsung Electronics has completed R&D on LPDDR6 and is preparing for mass production within the year.
Micron forecasted increased demand for LPDDR6 in its recent earnings report but has not revealed any development or mass production plans.
South Korean industry insiders believe that although the progress in large-scale production is converging with that of Chinese firms, Korean companies still maintain a leading edge in technical competitiveness. However, it is expected that if the shortage of AI memory supplies continues, Chinese companies’ influence will grow stronger—especially among customers who prioritize supply chain diversification regardless of output volume or quality.
According to data from market research firm Counterpoint Research, Samsung Electronics ranked first globally in DRAM market share in the first quarter of this year with 38%, followed by SK Hynix (29%) and Micron (22%).
YMTC holds 8% market share—there is still a gap—but this marks a significant increase from just 3% a year ago, demonstrating its growing presence. According to the Associated Press, YMTC currently accounts for approximately 9% of global DRAM shipments and is projected to grow to 11% by 2028.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1875491733420108/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author(s)