Seoul: Samsung Electronics Co. narrowed the gap with market leader SK hynix Inc. in the global high bandwidth memory (HBM) chip market in the second quarter, industry data showed Thursday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, data compiled by industry tracker Counterpoint Research revealed that SK hynix retained its No. 1 position with a 50 percent share of the market by revenue during the April-June period. However, this marked a decline of 8 percentage points from its 58 percent share in the previous quarter.

In contrast, Samsung Electronics made significant gains, increasing its market share from 21 percent in the first quarter to 33 percent in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Micron Technology Inc., the third-largest player, experienced a slight decline in market share, falling to 18 percent from 21 percent in the previous quarter.

According to Counterpoint Research, the majority of HBM revenue currently stems from HBM3E, the fifth-generation product. However, shipments of the sixth-generation HBM4 are anticipated to become more prominent in the latter half of this year. The research firm also predicted that Samsung's market share would continue to rise as the company increases shipments of its HBM4 products.

HBM plays a crucial role in artificial intelligence (AI) applications, with demand increasing rapidly due to the memory chip's ability to significantly enhance data-processing speeds at data centers.