Samsung is planning to raise its DRAM and NAND Flash prices by 3-5%, citing growing demand. It seems likely that recent US tariffs are driving a rush of orders in a bid to stock up on products including DDR5 memory modules.
While the brand managed to maintain steady pricing for some time, the looming US import tariffs on semiconductors resulted in a demand spike as customers rush to fill their stocks. Additionally, the flourishing AI segment driven by giants from the US and China further exacerbates this situation.
Of course, these are not the only reasons. Samsung is also reacting to Micron’s recent price hikes, not to forget the anticipated launch of new smartphones and PCs in Q2 2025.
According to data gathered by DRAM Exchange, high-performance DDR5 memory used by PCs and servers saw a 12% price surge, followed by NAND at 9.6%, marking a rise for the third month in a row. On the contrary, the DDR4 market maintained its price for the fourth month now, partly due to a flood of Chinese-made chips.
The good news is that the NAND and DRAM markets go through cycles of low and high prices every couple of years. With time, and as the market begins to saturate, prices should drop until a new surge in demand points its ugly head.
For example, between 2016 and 2017, prices soured, fuelled by the strong demand from the mobile and server sectors. However, between 2018 and 2019 prices started to decrease as the supply caught up with demand, crashing by nearly 30%.
I’m hopeful that we’ll see prices follow a similar trend in the future. It’s unclear how long it’ll take but a little exercise in patience never hurt anyone.
