By Choi Sung-jin
SanDisk Corp., a U.S. NAND memory maker recently taken over by a Chinese company in roundabout ways, is tracking Samsung Electronics at a fierce tempo, industry sources said.
According to a recent report by DRAM Exchange, a market survey firm, Samsung Electronics topped the list of NAND flash chip makers in the third quarter with a market share of 31.5 percent, followed by Toshiba (20.5 percent), SanDisk (15.4 percent), Micron (13.8 percent), SK Hynix (10.9 percent) and Intel (7.8 percent).
Noteworthy was SanDisk's jump. Although the average price of NAND chips fell 22 percent, SanDisk's sales grew 17.7 percent, pushing aside Micron to take third place. It also narrowed the gap with market leader Samsung to 16.1 percentage points from 19.2 percentage points in the second quarter.
Samsung had attempted to take over SanDisk, which boasts world-class technology, to little avail. Western Digital, a U.S. company specializing in storage devices, said last week it would acquire SanDisk for $19 billion. Previously, Tsinghua Unigroup, China's state-owned chip-design company, took 15 percent of Western Digital through its subsidiary.
Market watchers said the Chinese company's indirect takeover of SanDisk heralds the advent of China's rise in the semiconductor industry, citing market rumors about Tsinghua's acquisition of Toshiba, too.