China's YMTC overtakes Micron and Kioxia in NAND market share but lags in revenue

Chinese memory maker YMTC has broken into the top three of the global NAND flash market for the first time. Based on shipment volumes, the company moved past Micron, Kioxia, and Sandisk to claim third place in the second quarter of this year, according to Counterpoint Research.

Samsung continues to lead the market with a 25% share. SK hynix, together with its subsidiary Solidigm, holds second place with 22%. YMTC secured the third spot thanks to bit shipments growing 22% year-over-year and 5% quarter-over-quarter.

Analysts attribute YMTC's success to large shipment volumes in both domestic and international markets. The company has already started mass production of 267-layer 3D NAND based on its Xtacking 4.0 architecture, with a move to 300+ layer technology expected next year. Strong production capacity allowed the Chinese vendor to overtake established industry giants.

However, market share does not translate into revenue leadership. Despite ranking third in shipments, YMTC only sits fifth in terms of revenue. The reason is that the company currently focuses on consumer electronics, while Micron, Kioxia, and other rivals target the more profitable enterprise server and AI segments.