Storage Industry Giants Release Earnings Reports: Western Digital Reduces NAND Supply, Samsung Expands High-Value Products

With the rapid development of AI, big data, and cloud computing, the demand for high-performance and high-capacity storage solutions continues to rise. Leading storage manufacturers—Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Kioxia, and Western Digital—are actively advancing technological innovation and optimizing their product portfolios to meet market needs.

Recently, these companies released their latest financial reports, providing insights into their strategic adjustments, technological advancements, and market expansion plans.

Samsung Electronics: Record-High Storage Revenue, High-Value Products Drive Growth

Samsung reported a total revenue of KRW 300.9 trillion ($205.5 billion) for 2024, reflecting a 16% YoY increase, while net profit surged 130% YoY to KRW 33.6 trillion ($229.49 billion), primarily driven by its strong memory business performance.

Q4 2024 Financial Highlights:

Revenue: KRW 75.8 trillion ($522.5 billion) (down 4% QoQ, up 12% YoY)

Operating Profit: KRW 6.5 trillion ($44.8 billion) (down 29% QoQ, up 132% YoY)

Net Profit: KRW 7.8 trillion ($53.8 billion) (down 23% QoQ, up 24% YoY)

Memory Business Performance (Q4 2024):

Revenue: KRW 23 trillion ($158.5 billion) (up 3% QoQ, up 46% YoY, reaching a record high)

DRAM Bit Shipments: Down 13-15% QoQ, but DRAM ASP increased ~20% QoQ

NAND Bit Shipments: Low single-digit decline QoQ, with NAND ASP down mid-single digits

Key Trends & Strategy

High-value memory products (HBM, high-density DDR5) drove revenue growth, despite reduced traditional NAND demand.
Samsung is limiting DRAM and NAND bit output growth in 2025 by cutting back traditional memory production.
Capital expenditure (CapEx) reached KRW 53.6 trillion, with KRW 46.3 trillion allocated to semiconductor R&D and production capacity expansion.

Micron: AI-Powered Data Center Growth & NAND Supply Cutbacks

Micron’s Q1 FY2025 (ending Nov 28, 2024) revenue surged 84.2% YoY to $8.71 billion, driven by strong AI-driven data center memory demand.

Q1 FY2025 Financial Highlights:

Revenue: $8.71 billion (up 12.4% QoQ, up 84.2% YoY)

Non-GAAP Operating Profit: $2.39 billion

Net Profit: $2.04 billion (up 52% QoQ, reversing from a YoY loss)

Business Unit Performance:

DRAM revenue: $6.4 billion (73% of total revenue, up 20% QoQ)

NAND revenue: $2.41 billion (26% of total revenue, down 5% QoQ)

Compute & Networking (CNBU): $4.4 billion, up 46% QoQ (record high)

Data Center: First time surpassing 50% of total revenue

Key Trends & Strategy

AI-driven DRAM demand is surging, with HBM & DDR5 investments prioritized.
Micron cut NAND CapEx, slowing its NAND technology node upgrades to manage supply.
Micron’s $13.5B-$14.5B CapEx for FY2025 will focus on HBM, DRAM expansion, and advanced manufacturing nodes.

SK Hynix: HBM & eSSD Drive Record Earnings

SK Hynix delivered all-time high earnings in 2024, with HBM sales now exceeding 40% of DRAM revenue.

Full-Year 2024 Financial Highlights:

Revenue: KRW 66.19 trillion ($48.81 billion) (up 102% YoY)

Operating Profit: KRW 23.46 trillion ($17.3 billion)

Net Profit: KRW 19.8 trillion ($14.59 billion)

Q4 2024 Financial Highlights:

Revenue: KRW 19.77 trillion ($14.57 billion) (up 74.8% YoY, up 12% QoQ)

Net Profit: KRW 8 trillion ($5.83 billion) (41% net profit margin)

Key Trends & Strategy

HBM revenue is expected to double in 2025.
Enterprise SSD revenue surged 300% YoY, with QLC-based high-capacity SSDs gaining traction.
SK Hynix is reducing DDR4 and LPDDR4 production to shift focus toward premium memory solutions.
The M15X fab (Cheongju) will be operational by Q4 2025, and the Yongin fab is set for 2027.

Western Digital: NAND Production Cutbacks & Business Split

Western Digital reported a 41% YoY revenue increase in Q2 FY2025 (Oct-Dec 2024), with plans to reduce NAND production by 15%.

Q2 FY2025 Financial Highlights:

Revenue: $4.285 billion (up 5% QoQ, up 41% YoY)

Net Profit: $647 million (flat QoQ, reversing from a YoY loss)

HDD Revenue: $2.409 billion (up 9% QoQ, up 76% YoY)

NAND Flash Revenue: $1.876 billion (down 0.42% QoQ, up 12.7% YoY)

Key Trends & Strategy

Western Digital will complete its split into two separate companies by Q3 FY2025:

SanDisk (Flash business, led by CEO David Goeckeler)

Western Digital (HDD business, led by CEO Irving Tan)
NAND production will be cut by ~15% in 2025 to stabilize market pricing.

Kioxia: Expanding Data Center & Enterprise SSD Market

Kioxia’s Q2 FY2024 (Oct-Dec 2024) revenue hit JPY 480.9 billion ($3.19 billion), nearly doubling YoY.

Q2 FY2024 Financial Highlights:

Revenue: JPY 480.9 billion ($3.19 billion) (up 12.2% QoQ, up 70.65% YoY)

Operating Profit: JPY 166 billion ($1.1 billion) (up 31.9% QoQ)

Net Profit: JPY 106.2 billion ($705 million) (up 52% QoQ)

Key Trends & Strategy

Kioxia is mass-producing QLC-based UFS 4.0 and PCIe 5.0 SSDs.
The company expects FY2024 revenue to reach JPY 1.6 trillion, a new record.

Market Trends & Outlook

The AI boom is reshaping the memory market, with HBM, high-performance SSDs, and DDR5 driving growth. Meanwhile, consumer electronics demand remains weak, impacting NAND and legacy DRAM sales.

Looking forward:
Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron will continue prioritizing HBM & DDR5 for AI servers.
Western Digital & Micron are limiting NAND supply to prevent oversupply issues.
Kioxia is doubling down on enterprise SSDs and next-gen NAND products.

With AI, cloud, and edge computing demand surging, memory makers are transitioning towards high-value, next-gen storage solutions, setting the stage for further industry transformation in 2025 and beyond.