Increased demand for memory has led to a shortage in the supply of some products. Customers are increasingly willing to compete to ensure supply, and actual transaction prices may be higher.
Demand for AI is driving the recovery of the storage industry. Following price increases in the second quarter, Samsung Electronics will raise memory prices sharply again in the third quarter.
According to media reports on Wednesday, as competition for memory intensifies due to a surge in AI demand, Samsung will raise the price of dynamic random memory (DRAM) and NAND by 15-20% in the third quarter, and Samsung Electronics' performance is expected to improve in the second half of the year.
According to industry sources on the 26th, Samsung Electronics has recently notified major customers, including Dell Technologies and HP, of such price increases.
It is worth mentioning that Samsung Electronics raised the price of enterprise-grade NAND flash memory by more than 20% in the second quarter. As the AI boom further boosts server demand in the second half of the year, memory chip prices are expected to continue to rise.
According to data from market research firm DRAM Exchange, global enterprise NAND flash memory sales reached US$3.758 billion in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 62.9% over the previous quarter. Increased demand has led to shortages in the supply of some products, and customers are increasingly willing to compete to ensure supply.
As a mainstream server DRAM, the price of DDR4 was originally expected to rise slightly from $140 in the second quarter to $144 in the third quarter, but the actual transaction price could reach $160 or more.
A semiconductor industry source said:
Customers usually only provide demand forecasts for the next quarter, but now they are offering full-year plans to semiconductor companies, which shows that they take securing supply very seriously. Since it is currently a seller's market, the final price increase of more than 15% may be negotiated.
Damo previously predicted that memory will usher in a new “supercycle”, and the memory industry's pricing power advantage will be further highlighted. The rapid development of AI will lead to an imbalance between supply and demand for DRAM and HBM. It is estimated that in 2025, the undersupply rate for HBM will be -11%, and the overall DRAM market will be undersupplied at -23%. In particular, demand for HBM will increase dramatically and may account for 30% of total DRAM supply.