DRAM and SSDs: Memory prices set to rise sharply in the second quarter
Cloud hyperscalers continue to buy large amounts of RAM and SSDs. Prices are therefore expected to rise unchecked in the coming months.
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The tense global political situation has so far had no impact on the ongoing memory crisis. Global market leaders such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron continue to negotiate long-term supply contracts with buyers. In particular, US cloud hyperscalers such as Amazon AWS, Google Cloud, Meta, and Microsoft continue to buy vast amounts of RAM and SSDs. All memory categories are expected to increase in price in the coming months.
The market observer specializing in memory Trendforce expects that conventional DRAM will become 58 to 63 percent more expensive on average in the second quarter of 2026. This refers to RAM that is used in the form of, for example, DDR5 and LPDDR5X in servers, desktop PCs, and mobile devices. Explicitly not included: High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for AI accelerators. NAND flash for SSDs is expected to become 70 to 75 percent more expensive in the same period.
These price increases are on top of previous adjustments. For the first quarter of 2026, which is now ending, the market observer expects a particularly steep increase: up to 98 percent for DRAM and 90 percent for NAND flash.
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End consumers are at the bottom of the food chain
End consumers and PC manufacturers are particularly affected because memory manufacturers are focusing on servers and large providers are leaving the market. Trendforce is likely alluding to Micron, among others, which is discontinuing its end-user brand Crucial.
The declining demand for desktop PCs, notebooks, and smartphones is apparently not nearly enough to ease the supply situation. Because hyperscalers continue to buy, clear bottlenecks are still to be expected throughout the year. Trendforce also emphasizes that significant capacity expansions by memory manufacturers, which could ease the crisis, are not expected until the end of 2027 or 2028.
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