Kingston leads global SSD market as top 5 vendors capture 72 percent share in 2023

The global SSD retail market saw some major shake-ups in 2023, with the top five companies grabbing a bigger slice of the pie, going from 59 percent market share in 2022 to a hefty 72 percent last year. Kingston stayed on top with a whopping 34 percent of the market, according to the latest data from TrendForce.

The sector as a whole grew by 3.7 percent year-over-year, with 180 million units shipped in 2023. A good chunk of that growth came from buyers making calculative moves, snapping up SSDs ahead of expected price hikes in the latter half of the year.

Right behind Kingston, ADATA and Lexar were neck and neck for second place, each snagging 11 percent of the market. Chinese brands Kimtigo and Biwin took the fourth and fifth spots with 9 percent and 7 percent, respectively, showcasing China's increasing influence in the SSD market.

Chinese manufacturers have made impressive technological advances despite U.S. sanctions, successfully moving from PCIe 4.0 to PCIe 5.0. Four Chinese companies make up about 23 percent of the global market, further proving China's growing footprint in the SSD industry.

Several factors played into the market's growth, like people upgrading pandemic-era PCs and gamers and SOHO creators pushing for drives with bigger storage capacities.