Counterpoint: AI demand continues to grow, DRAM market revenue increased 369% year-on-year in the third quarter
The Zhitong Finance App learned that demand for AI accelerators and data centers continues to grow, driving both storage prices and vendor revenue to record highs. In the third quarter of 2026, DRAM market revenue increased 369% year over year.
According to Counterpoint Research's latest global storage market tracking report for the third quarter of 2026, Samsung ranked first in the DRAM market with 38% market share. SK Hynix's month-on-month growth performance was even stronger, with revenue growth of more than 40% month-on-month, helping it recover some of the market share it lost earlier this year. Micron (MU.US) also performed well, driven by AI data center storage requirements, but the growth rate was lower than that of Samsung and SK Hynix. Meanwhile, Changxin Storage's market share fell from 10% in the second quarter to 9% in the third quarter. Changxin Storage's market share is likely to continue to be under pressure as competitors continue to ship more expensive HBM4 products starting in the fourth quarter.
DRAM revenue market share for the third quarter of 2026
Jeongku Choi, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said, “The market is currently in a price-driven supercycle rather than a shipments-driven cycle. DRAM bit shipments increased by only about 4% this quarter, but market revenue is close to 200 billion US dollars, about 5 times that of the same period last year. AI has transformed storage from a commodity to a scarce high-value resource. Buyers now compete for supply guarantees rather than repeated price games. With prices continuing to rise, the supplier is expected to hit a new profit high next quarter.”
The increase in DRAM average selling price (ASP) was the main factor driving growth in the third quarter. Although the price increase has slowed down from the rapid rise in the first half of this year, the average sales price of DRAM still reached $1.9 per GB, further boosting overall DRAM revenue.
“Every iteration of HBM is reshaping the competitive landscape,” said MshWang, research director at Counterpoint Research. SK Hynix previously dominated the HBM3E market, but its growth momentum has slowed; while Samsung's HBM4 products have been widely recognized by customers. With profits improving this year, Samsung is expected to take the lead in the HBM market next year.”
MshWang added, “Storage prices are expected to remain strong next year. This year's trend is lagging behind that of ordinary DRAM, HBM prices are catching up. Long-term agreements (LTAs) support prices, and major new fabs will not be put into operation until 2028, and supply will continue to be tight. In the short term, LTA terms may cause differences in the performance of various suppliers, but in the long run, the overall upward trend will be consistent.”
Judging from the product structure, although HBM's revenue has nearly doubled, its share of total DRAM revenue has declined. This is mainly because traditional DRAM (DDR/LPDDR) is growing faster.
BradyWang, Deputy Director of Counterpoint Research, said, “The rise of Agentic AI is driving a significant increase in demand for traditional DRAM. According to our cloud-based AI computing power tracking data, the GPU to CPU configuration ratio has been drastically narrowed from 4:1 to 2:1, showing a trend of further moving closer to 1:1. For example, in the Nvidia VeraRubin rack, the DRAM capacity corresponding to each CPU slot has nearly tripled compared to the previous generation, reaching 1.5TB. Strong demand has driven DDR and LPDDR's ASP to historic highs, leading to revenue growth of 500% year over year and close to 400%, respectively. We observed a significant increase in server CPU usage, which in turn led to an increase in traditional DRAM consumption. This trend is expected to further boost ASP per Gb of DRAM next year, while putting some pressure on marginal markets.”