Samsung reportedly plans 20% DRAM price hike in Q3
Seoul, July 4
Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to raise DRAM prices by about 20 per cent in the third quarter and has verbally notified some customers of the plan, the Korea Herald reported on Saturday, citing a report by a Chinese media outlet that quoted industry sources.
An executive at a Chinese electronics manufacturer told the outlet that the company had discussed the matter with Samsung last month and had already received verbal notice of the planned price increase.
The executive confirmed the move, saying higher DRAM prices could eventually lead to price increases for electronic products.
Another industry source also told the outlet that Samsung had verbally informed some customers of the planned increase.
Samsung Electronics has not issued an official comment on its DRAM pricing for the third quarter.
The report comes as memory chip prices continue to recover amid tight supply, with demand for chips used in artificial intelligence servers and advanced devices remaining strong.
Market tracker TrendForce recently forecast DRAM contract prices to rise 13 to 18 per cent in the third quarter from the previous quarter, saying supply shortages were expected to continue, although weaker demand for consumer electronics could limit the scale of gains.
TrendForce also projected NAND flash contract prices to increase 10 to 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the July-September period.
Chinese market research firm Sigmaintell Consulting has separately forecast contract prices for LPDDR5X 8GB chips to rise by about 20 per cent in the third quarter.
— ANI
Reader Comments
This will definitely hurt Indian consumers. We already pay a premium for electronics. If DRAM prices go up by 20%, expect laptop and phone prices to follow. The timing is terrible with the rupee also weakening against the dollar. 😔
Honestly, this is just business. Supply and demand, yaar. With all this AI stuff and data centers eating up chips, prices were bound to go up. But Samsung should communicate this properly instead of "verbal notices" - feels a bit shady, if you ask me.
Interesting how Chinese media is breaking this story. Is this Samsung testing the waters or are Chinese manufacturers trying to pressure them? Either way, as a consumer in the US, I'm worried about my next PC build becoming more expensive.
The Chinese electronics executive quoted in the article makes a valid point - higher DRAM costs will trickle down to everything from smartphones to smart TVs. But what's the alternative? We can't exactly make DRAM in our backyard, can we? 🙈 India needs its own chip fabs ASAP.
The market is recovering from the 2022 crash, so price hikes were expected. But 20% seems aggressive for a single quarter. I hope Samsung isn't trying to front-run the competition before they ramp up production. Still, with HBM3e demand through the roof, they have the leverage.
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