After suspending quotations in October, Samsung Electronics has now officially announced significant price increases across its DRAM product line. Although Samsung declined to comment, industry executives and analysts confirm that the current chip shortage is “severe,” triggering panic buying among certain customers.

Dramatic DDR5 Price Surge

According to industry sources, Samsung has raised the price of 32GB DDR5 from USD 149 in September to USD 239, representing a 60% increase.
Other capacities have also seen substantial hikes:

    *  16GB DDR5: increased to USD 135

    *  128GB DDR5: increased to USD 1,194

    *  64GB & 96GB: prices up by roughly 30%

Overall, most DDR5 products have recorded 40–60% price increases within weeks.

Impact on Tech Giants: Cost Pressure and Demand Shifts

The combination of soaring prices and tight supply is influencing procurement strategies across the industry.

    *  SMIC (中芯国际) stated that some clients have already shifted to alternative memory types or halted purchasing altogether.

    *  Xiaomi announced that rising memory costs will force the company to increase consumer product prices.

The price rally is also affecting the deployment of large-scale AI data centers, and supply shortages are predicted to influence pricing for smartphones, tablets, laptops, and PCs.

Strong Demand, Long-Term Contracts to 2027

TrendForce analyst Ellie Wang noted that Samsung is confident the upward trend will continue:

“Demand is extremely strong, and all customers are negotiating long-term agreements with suppliers.”

Many of these contracts extend through 2026, or even cover both 2026 and 2027, indicating that customers expect prolonged supply constraints.

DDR5 Becomes a Seller’s Market

The current round of price increases is concentrated in DDR5 DRAM, driven by exponential AI demand.
In Q4, major suppliers are reportedly quoting only to top-tier tech companies and leading cloud service providers, with practically zero DDR5 capacity released to general customers.

The memory market has now fully entered a seller-dominated cycle, and additional upward pricing pressure is expected if AI-driven demand continues to surge.