Samsung retains DRAM leader in Q2 -iSuppli

TAIPEI, Aug 9 (Reuters) - South Korea's Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) retained its spot as the world's top DRAM maker in the second quarter of the year, with a share of more than 30 percent in the market, research firm iSuppli said.

Samsung controlled 30.3 percent of the global DRAM market in terms of revenue as its second-quarter revenue jumped 13 percent from the first quarter, while Hynix (000660.KS) took the No. 2 position, winning 19.5 percent in the same quarter, iSuppli said in a statement late on Friday.

Japan's Elpida Memory (6665.T) came in third with 15.4 percent, U.S. Micron Technology Inc (MU.N) was No.4 with 10.9 percent and Qimonda QI.N was No.5 with 8.9 percent, iSuppli said, without giving comparisons.

Qimonda, which captured 16 percent market share just two years ago, has now lost 7 percent of that growth as other DRAM suppliers have forged ahead, iSuppli said.

Among the top 5 DRAM sellers, Qimonda was the only one to see quarter on quarter revenue decline in the second quarter, iSuppli said, amid a sector downturn that has seen prices drop sharply.

iSuppli reiterated that prices of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips used mainly for PCs were likely to fall in the third quarter due to bloated inventories. (Reporting by Baker Li; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)