Samil PwC Report: CXMT and YMTC Gain Market Share, Urging Korean Chipmakers to Defend Profitability
A Samil PwC report highlights significant market share gains by Chinese memory makers in DRAM and NAND, advising Korean firms to pivot to advanced packaging and HBM to maintain their edge.
Samil PwC, the South Korean member firm of the global consultancy, released a report on October 26, 2026, warning local semiconductor companies to defend profitability as Chinese rivals scale up production and strengthen market share. The report noted that Chinese competition would likely heat up first in conventional memory, mature-node manufacturing, and packaging and testing.
To stay ahead, Samil PwC urged South Korean semiconductor companies to sharpen cost competitiveness in commodity memory while doubling down on cutting-edge sectors such as advanced packaging and high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which are used alongside AI processors in a stacked configuration. The report stated that China still lagged in these advanced segments, where customer validation and stable, high-yield mass production remained barriers.
Data showed that Chinese memory makers were already converting technical gains into commercial share. According to Counterpoint Research, ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) captured 10 per cent of global DRAM revenue in the second quarter, more than double the 4 per cent recorded a year earlier, making it the world’s fourth-largest supplier behind Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology. In flash storage, Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC) ranked third globally by NAND shipment volume in the second quarter, trailing only Samsung and SK Hynix. YMTC’s share of global NAND revenue climbed to 14 per cent in the first quarter of this year, up from 9 per cent a year earlier.
Counterpoint projected that YMTC’s server-related revenue could approach 39 per cent of its total sales by 2028, up from virtually zero in 2024, fuelled by an expansion into storage for AI data centres. MS Hwang, research director at Counterpoint, said YMTC was benefiting from rising prices and stronger domestic order volumes, with enterprise storage presenting a lucrative channel to ride the AI wave. However, he added that winning over international clients beyond China would remain a key test of YMTC’s ability to challenge Samsung on the world stage.