YMTC NAND

YMTC overtook Micron and Kioxia in Q2 to gain 14% NAND market share based on units and third place in the market behind Samsung and Hynix, reports Counterpoint Research.

Samsung led shipments with 25%, down from 32% in Q2 2024, SK Hynix was second at 22% on a 40% QoQ jump in Solidigm bit shipments.

Although YMTC ranked third in shipments in Q2, it ranked fifth in  revenue because its product mix is still concentrated in consumer applications with a low share of high-priced datacentre eSSDs.

The global NAND market in Q2 2026 was defined by the migration of AI workloads from training to inference, which pushed enterprise SSDs to 48% of total bits shipped and left consumer supply short.

The resulting supply tightness pushed industry revenue to record levels, rising fivefold from Q2 2025.

AI has become the defining variable for NAND demand. As the AI paradigm shifts from training to inference, demand has surged for storage that can hold KV caches and datasets at high speed and low power.

Alongside premiumisation toward ultra-high capacity and performance, eSSDs in servers are expected to absorb more than half of all NAND bits by the end of this year. This has pushed consumer ASPs to record highs.

These macro tailwinds are reshaping the supplier competitive landscape. Samsung faced capacity constraints, while a preference for high-margin DRAM capped its NAND output. SK hynix performance buoyed by subsidiary Solidigm, whose bit shipments grew 40% QoQ.

YMTC grew 22% YoY and 5% QoQ, capitalizing on widespread shortages. It broadened supply to domestic OEMs while mass-producing 267-layer 3D NAND and advancing 300+ layer technology built on its Xtacking architecture.

Kioxia, ranked third in the previous quarter, directs more than 30% of its shipments to servers, but rising server prices slowed customer purchases and left its growth trailing behind YMTC’s. Micron rounded out the top five in shipments while still ranking ahead of YMTC in revenue.

YMTC plans to shift its mix further towards eSSDs in the second half of the year to cement its third-place position globally, supported by growing avenues for capital support.

The same dynamic now frames the industry: with servers set to take most NAND bits.