DIGITIMES observes that the combined memory revenue of Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology reached US$114.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026, representing a 77% sequential increase. Revenue in the second quarter is expected to maintain this strong momentum and could surpass US$170 billion.
Meanwhile, Kioxia, SanDisk, and Taiwan-based niche memory suppliers also recorded double-digit sequential revenue gains in the first quarter of 2026. Their positive outlook for the second quarter suggests that favorable supply-demand dynamics will likely sustain a seller's market.
On the product development front, the AI boom is expected to intensify competition among the three leading memory makers in emerging segments such as SOCAMM2, PCIe 6.0 SSDs, and high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Meanwhile, Taiwanese suppliers are expanding DDR4 and eMMC production capacity to meet ongoing demand.
Chart 1: Global top-3 memory makers combined revenues, 1Q25-2Q26 (US$b)
Chart 2: DRAM business revenues of top-3 makers, 1Q25-2Q26 (US$b)
Chart 3: NAND flash business revenues of top-3 makers, 1Q25-2Q26 (US$b)
Chart 5: DRAM business revenues of Winbond, 1Q25-1Q26 (US$b)
Chart 6: NAND flash business revenues of Kioxia, 1Q25-1Q26 (US$b)
Chart 7: NAND flash business revenues of SanDisk, 1Q25-1Q26 (US$b)
Chart 8: Flash business revenues of Macronix, 1Q25-1Q26 (US$b)
Chart 10: Process transition and SSD product development of top-3 memory makers
Chart 11: Relationship formed via NAND flash makers joining in Nanya private placement
Chart 12: DRAM/NAND flash business revenue performance and key maker movements
