Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest computer memory chipmaker, maintained its status as the world’s top NAND flash memory chipmaker in the third quarter, data showed Thursday.

Samsung sold $2.41 billion worth of NAND flash memory chips in the July-September period, accounting for 38.4 percent of the global market, according to the data compiled by market researcher DRAMeXchange.

The third-quarter market share compares with 37.8 percent from the previous quarter, the data showed.

NAND flash memory chips are mostly used for smartphones, tablet PCs and other mobile devices.

Toshiba Corp. of Japan came in second with $1.81 billion in sales and a 28.9 percent market share, followed by SK hynix Inc., another South Korean chipmaker, with sales of $883 million, or 14.1 percent market share, according to the data.

The global NAND flash memory market was estimated at $6.28 billion in the third quarter, up 8.8 percent from the previous quarter. (Yonhap News)