S. Korea's share in DRAM market hits record high in 2014: US market researcher

South Korea's share in the global DRAM (dynamic random access memory) market hit a record high last year, industry data showed Thursday.

The combined share of Samsung Electronics and its compatriot SK hynix in the world's DRAM market stood at a whopping 67.8 percent, according to the data compiled by U.S. market research firm IHS. It broke the previous record of 65.5 percent set in 2012.

Samsung took a lion's share of 40.4 percent in 2014, up from 36.2 percent in the previous year. SK hynix took up 27.4 percent of the market, compared with a combined 24.6 percent share for U.S.-based Micron Technology and Japan's Elpida Memory. Micron acquired Elpida in 2013. In 2013, SK hynix had a 26.8 percent share, closely trailing Micron-Elpida with 28.3 percent.

Nanya Technology and Winbond Electronics, both of Taiwan, held 3.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.

AJP