- RAM’s increase is established to affect almost all market segments
- Supply limits linked to DRAM node changes are promoting product scarcity
- GDDR6 and DDR4 lead the current increases in the price of memory
RAM’s prices are increasing once again, but this time the finger of guilt cannot only be pointed at AI, a new investigation has affirmed.
According to reports, the current financial quarter is bringing pronounced increases in all areas, which affects everything from the server memory to the mobile play and graphics cards.
New Trendforce data, backed by Computerbase research, says DDR4 has seen the largest jump, with prices up to 45% higher than in the previous quarter.
Undulation effect
The trend began earlier this year when manufacturers, including micron, began eliminating DDR4 and LPDDR4. These occurred using older dram nodes that are now withdrawing.
Micron issued notifications at the end of life for these products, something that had a great impact on customers of large volumes in the segments of consumption, customer, mobile and data centers.
The shortage of DDR4 and LPDDR4X followed, creating a domino effect throughout the memory market.
In some areas, DDR4 has become temporarily more expensive than DDR5. It is now projected that DDR4 prices in the PC segment will increase from 38 to 43% in the third quarter, compared to 13-18% in the second quarter. The DDR4 server closely continues with an increase of 28-33%.
The graphic memory is also affected. It is expected that GDDR6 will increase from 28 to 33%, which makes the medium -range and entry level GPU options more expensive.
GDDR7, even early in adoption, could see that prices rise by 5–10%.
Mobile devices are not immune to price increases. It is forecast that LPDDR4X will jump from 23 to 28%, and LPDDR5X can increase from 5 to 10%.
For consumers and OEM that depend on these chips, the moment adds pressure before seasonal products.
HBM, mainly used in high performance and AI computing, is established up to 20%. Although this segment is smaller, its price is still important for data centers and business buyers.
Micron has declared that he will admit to customers who need a long -term supply of 1 ALPHA DRAM, but only for specific minor volume sectors such as Automotive and Industrial.
