South Korean chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc. saw their combined shares in the NAND flash market fall below 50 percent in the first quarter of 2014 for the first time in two years, data showed Tuesday, nudged out by Japanese and U.S. rivals.

The two companies' market portion came to 48 percent in the January-March period, dipping below the 50 percent mark for the first time since the first quarter of 2012 when the comparable figure was 48.5 percent, the data compiled by industry tracker iSuppli showed.

Along with dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips, NAND flash memory chips are used in smartphones, tablet PCs and other mobile devices to save data when the devices are turned off.

By company, Samsung accounted for 37.4 percent of the NAND market, trailed by Japan's Toshiba Corp. with 31.9 percent, which approached closer to Samsung with a 5.5 percentage point gap compared with 7.2 percentage points posted in the previous quarter.

U.S.-based Micron Technology Inc., which acquired Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. last year, garnered 20.1 percent of the market. SK hynix held a comparable figure of 10.6 percent.

While Samsung and SK still remained major players in the DRAM market, with their combined share amounting to 65 percent, industry watchers say the NAND flash market is expanding at a faster pace.

Samsung will be able to widen its gap with Toshiba in the second quarter, they say, considering that the South Korean company has began operation of its new plant in Xian, China, in May, its second overseas chip plant after the one in the U.S.

By: DocMemory
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