DRAM Revenue Drops 5.5% in the First Quarter of 2025; SK hynix Overtakes Samsung for Top Spot

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

TrendForce’s latest findings reveal that global revenue for the DRAM industry reached US$27.01 billion in 1Q25, marking a 5.5% QoQ decline. This downturn was driven by falling contract prices for conventional DRAM and a contraction in HBM shipment volumes.

Samsung’s redesign of its HBM3e products eased the HBM production squeezes. This prompted downstream players to clear inventories and extended the price declines seen since 4Q24.

Looking ahead to 2Q25, as PC OEMs and smartphone makers complete inventory corrections and ramp up system production ahead of the 90-day U.S. reciprocal tariff grace period, bit procurement momentum is expected to strengthen significantly. This will drive notable increases in supplier shipment volumes. On the pricing side, TrendForce forecasts a rebound across major application contract prices, with both conventional DRAM and combined DRAM (including HBM) contract prices expected to rise.

SK hynix took the lead, climbing to first place with $9.72 billion, despite a 7.1% QoQ revenue decline due to lower shipment volumes. The company’s growing share of HBM3e shipments helped maintain ASPs compared to the previous quarter.

Samsung fell to second place with $9.1 billion, reflecting a sharp 19% QoQ revenue drop. This was mainly due to the inability to directly sell HBM products to China and significantly reduced shipments of high-priced HBM3e following its product redesign.

Micron ranked third, recording $6.58 billion in revenue—up 2.7% QoQ—as its expanded HBM3e shipment scale offset minor ASP declines.

TrendForce notes that as the top three suppliers transition to advanced process nodes, market gaps are increasingly being filled by Taiwanese suppliers using mature processes. This supported clear quarterly revenue gains for Nanya and Winbond in Q1. Nanya launched shipments of select DDR5 products that countered weak consumer DRAM demand. The company posted $219 million in revenue, up 7.5% QoQ.

Winbond saw strong shipment growth in high-density, lower price per Gb LPDDR4 and DDR4 products. This drove Q1 revenue to $146 million, a 22.7% QoQ jump, despite falling prices.

PSMC, which reports only its in-house consumer DRAM revenue, saw Q1 revenue dip 1.4% to $11 million due to shrinking wafer input. Including foundry services, total DRAM revenue fell 13% QoQ as customer demand slowed.