SK hynix and Micron Technology are expected to vie for second place in the Samsung-dominated global mobile DRAM market this year. However, regardless of market shares, both will still make decent profits as they have no incentive to trigger a price war, industry watchers said.

Micron Technology reclaimed the second spot from SK hynix in the first quarter of this year, according to market research firm IHS Technology. Samsung Electronics retained the top spot with a 44 percent market share, followed by Micron Technology with 30 percent and SK hynix with 24 percent.

Micron Technology, which accounted for 4 percent of the market in the second quarter of last year, saw a sharp rise following the acquisition of Japan-based Elpida Memory last July.

Still, industry watchers said the minor gap in market shares is not meaningful as long as both companies continue to reap significant profits in the mobile DRAM market. There is no incentive for any of the three ― Samsung, SK hynix and Micron ― to trigger a price war since the market is now already dominated by them, industry watchers said.

“Both SK hynix and Micron Technology will continue to have around 30 percent of the operating profits until next year as the mobile DRAM market is expected to grow further,” said Kim Young-chan, an analyst at Shinhan Investment.

“Though the shipment of smartphones is seeing a decline in the global market, there is a growing demand for smartphone parts with bigger capacity,” he said.

In the total DRAM market including computers, Samsung Electronics maintained the top spot with a 37 percent market share, followed by SK hynix with 27 percent and Micron Technology with 26 percent.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)