According to the latest NAND Flash industry survey from TrendForce, the first quarter of 2026 saw global cloud service providers (CSPs) driving exponential growth in Enterprise SSD demand to meet the high-speed transmission and large-capacity requirements for building AI server infrastructure. Additionally, persistent structural shortages in traditional HDDs prompted a significant shift of orders to QLC Enterprise SSDs. Amid this demand surge and constrained supply, the average selling price (ASP) for NAND Flash manufacturers generally exceeded expectations, leading to an 83.7% quarter-over-quarter increase in combined revenue for the top five brands, surpassing $38.9 billion.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, the supply-demand imbalance is expected to persist. Although demand for smartphones and PCs may be affected by rising memory and device prices, orders from the server segment are anticipated to fill this gap. Manufacturers generally expect NAND Flash shipments to continue growing in Q2, with pricing mechanisms continuing to support ASP performance.
Analyzing the revenue performance of major NAND Flash suppliers in Q1: Samsung benefited from quarterly pricing mechanisms and a significant increase in bit shipments for server applications, leading to substantial ASP growth. It secured the top position with revenue of $13.51 billion, a remarkable 104.7% increase quarter-over-quarter—the highest among the top five brands. Its market share also rose from 28% to 31.6%.
SK hynix Group (including SK hynix and Solidigm) ranked second with revenue of approximately $7.53 billion, up 44.6% quarter-over-quarter, adjusting its market share to 17.6%. Its revenue momentum similarly stemmed from rising ASPs, with Solidigm contributing significantly to the group's overall revenue due to the continued surge in orders for high-capacity QLC Enterprise SSDs.
Kioxia delivered a strong Q1 performance, with revenue increasing 80% quarter-over-quarter to $5.96 billion, maintaining its third-place ranking and a 13.9% market share. Benefiting from the overall sharp rise in NAND Flash prices and a market environment highly favorable to manufacturers, both its revenue and profit performance achieved record highs.
Micron also saw significant growth in its NAND Flash business, driven by a substantial increase in ASP. Its Q1 revenue surged 96.7% quarter-over-quarter to $5.95 billion, with its market share recovering to 13.9%, tying for fourth place with SanDisk.
SanDisk's data center business revenue in Q1 increased by over 200% quarter-over-quarter, demonstrating the effectiveness of its strategy to adjust its product mix toward higher-value configurations. Its quarterly NAND Flash revenue also reached $5.95 billion, a 96.7% increase, with a market share of 13.9%.
TrendForce indicates that major NAND Flash manufacturers will have almost no new capacity additions in 2026. With AI demand expected to remain strong, a supply shortage is anticipated throughout the year. Furthermore, products with over 200 layers are projected to become mainstream by year-end. Additionally, production capacity resources will continue to tilt toward server applications, further boosting the penetration rate of high-capacity QLC Enterprise SSDs.
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