Soaring again after a month, report: Samsung Electronics Q1 DRAM prices increased from 70% to 100%

The surge in AI infrastructure investment continues to heat up, and the global memory market’s supply and demand imbalance is intensifying. Samsung Electronics’ DRAM prices for the first quarter have ultimately increased by over 100%, further raising negotiations results compared to a month ago.

On March 4th, according to Korean tech media The Elec, Samsung Electronics completed the final negotiations for first-quarter DRAM supply prices with major clients last month. The average prices for server, PC, and mobile DRAM have risen about 100% compared to the previous quarter, doubling from Q4 of last year, with some clients and products experiencing increases of over 100%.

The report cites industry insiders revealing that negotiations have fully concluded, and some overseas clients have already made payments. This increase, which was negotiated at around 70% in January of this year, has expanded by about 30 percentage points within just one month.

The rapid price rise is reshaping the contractual norms in the memory industry. Supply negotiation cycles have been compressed from traditional annual contracts to quarterly, and now even monthly adjustments are needed, reflecting the severe imbalance between supply and demand.

HBM Occupies Capacity, General-Purpose DRAM Supply Limited

The core driver behind this sharp increase in DRAM prices is the global expansion of AI infrastructure investments. As data center operators deploy AI chips on a large scale, the demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) supporting computing power has surged dramatically. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron are all shifting capacity toward HBM, leading to a noticeable squeeze on supply of general-purpose DRAM for servers, PCs, and mobile devices.

While supply contracts shrink, demand remains hot. The demand for AI servers, AI PCs, and AI smartphones continues to grow, widening the supply-demand gap and pushing prices higher. Reports indicate that some overseas tech giants have traveled to Korea specifically to negotiate directly with memory manufacturers like Samsung Electronics to secure supply, further intensifying market tension.

SK Hynix and Micron Price Increases Similar

This price hike is not solely Samsung Electronics’ initiative. According to industry sources, SK Hynix and Micron have also completed their first-quarter supply contract negotiations with similar increases, forming a pattern of collective price hikes among the three major memory manufacturers.

Back in January, Samsung Electronics’ DRAM quarterly contract prices increased by about 70%, and NAND by around 100%, which already drew widespread market attention. Now, with DRAM prices rising over 100%, it indicates that demand growth continues to outpace supply expansion during ongoing negotiations, forcing the price center to move upward again.

Price Rise Expected to Continue into Q2

Market expectations for memory prices to continue rising remain strong. The report cites research firm Gartner predicting that this year’s combined prices of DRAM and SSDs will increase by approximately 130% compared to last year. Nvidia’s record-breaking quarterly performance last month further alleviated concerns about an AI bubble, providing strong support for ongoing memory demand expansion.

Industry insiders predict that DRAM and NAND prices will continue to rise in the second quarter, although the pace may slow, but the upward trend itself is irreversible. For downstream clients, the ongoing increase in memory procurement costs will further raise the overall costs of servers and end devices.

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