SEOUL, February 03 (AJP) - Memory chip prices are expected to continue rising in the first quarter, with momentum that began in DRAM now spreading to the NAND flash market as supply struggles to keep pace with demand, according to industry analyses.
Counterpoint Research forecasts NAND flash prices will rise more than 40 percent quarter-on-quarter in the January–March period, following sharp gains already seen in DRAM during the fourth quarter amid tight supply conditions.
NAND flash, widely used in data storage devices, is benefiting from rapid growth in demand for high-capacity, high-performance enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs) as investment in artificial intelligence data centers accelerates. Production, however, has not kept up, putting upward pressure on prices, the research firm said.
Counterpoint cited concentrated demand from server customers as a key driver. As suppliers prioritize SSD shipments for AI servers, availability of NAND products for consumer devices has tightened, leading to price premiums.
Average NAND prices per gigabyte are expected to climb about 40 percent, while lower-capacity 128GB products used in PCs have recently traded at premiums of roughly 50 percent, the report said.
Supply constraints have also been exacerbated by chipmakers focusing on high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other higher-margin DRAM products to meet AI-related demand.
Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron Technology are allocating more resources to DRAM production, leaving limited capacity expansion for NAND.
TrendForce said NAND orders in the first quarter significantly exceed suppliers’ production capacity, while manufacturers continue to redirect some production lines toward DRAM to capitalize on stronger profitability.
“The tight NAND supply situation will not be easy to resolve,” the research firm said, adding that supply shortages could persist for the next two to three years.
Demand from North American cloud service providers is also pushing prices higher, with enterprise SSD contract prices projected to rise 53 percent to 58 percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter.
Strength in DRAM pricing is likewise expected to continue.
TrendForce recently raised its forecast for quarter-on-quarter increases in commodity DRAM contract prices to 90 percent to 95 percent, up from its earlier estimate of 55 percent to 60 percent, reflecting ongoing supply tightness and strong AI-related demand.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.