Despite hyped concerns about the boom in memory chip fizzling out, there is still money to be made for the world’s two largest dynamic random access memory (DRAM) makers - both based in South Korea - at least until the end of this year with revenue expected to top $100 billion in 2018, according to a study.

According to a recent report by market research firm IC Insights, the global DRAM market is estimated to hit $101.6 billion this year, up 39 percent from the previous year and upgraded from the forecast of $99.6 billion in March report. It would be the first time for sales of a single chip segment to exceed $100 billion.

The report forecast the worldwide semiconductor market would amount $428 billion this year, with DRAM taking up 24 percent share. Non-volatile storage (NAND) flash memory market also has been growing fast and is estimated to reach $62.6 billion this year.

The report anticipated DRAM and NAND flash memory together would represent 38 percent of the total semiconductor shipments this year.

Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. remain unrivaled leaders in DRAM. As of the end of March, Samsung accounted for 44.9 percent share and SK Hynix 27.9 percent.

In the flash share, Samsung Electronics led with 37 percent. SK Hynix was fifth with 9.8 percent.

Worldwide sales of PC and server microprocessors, which once had been the best-selling semiconductor products, are expected to reach $50.8 billion this year, according IC Insights.

By Hwang Hyung-gyu and Cho Jeehyun

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