As the memory supercycle shows no signs of slowing, pricing has moved from quarterly cycles to rapid, monthly—and even daily—adjustments. Yicai Global, citing traders in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei, China’s largest electronics hub, reports that the surge is so fast it’s like “a new price every day,” a pace rarely seen in years.

DDR4 and DDR5 Lead the Charge

According to Yicai Global, starting in September, memory module prices saw a significant uptick, which has persisted to the present. In detail, the report points out that 8GB DDR4 modules, which sold below RMB 90 in August, rose to RMB 100–130 within a month, up to ~44%. The rally reportedly accelerated in October, with 16GB DDR4 modules climbing from around RMB 200 to RMB 350–520, while 16GB DDR5 modules have reached roughly RMB 600.

TrendForce observes that this week, the DRAM spot market has witnessed severe hoarding, with buyers purchasing as soon as they receive quotes, leading to soaring spot prices. This phenomenon is attributed to the persistently tight supply from suppliers and major module houses such as Kingston limiting their shipments. Driven by strong demand, spot prices of DDR5 chips have surged by 30% this week, according to TrendForce.

Price Surge Sparks Broader Market Ripple

Yicai Global highlights that soaring storage prices are partly fueled by AI computing, which has devoured massive memory capacity. DDR4 led the surge in May, followed by DDR5, according to Yicai.

Notably, major consumer products like smartphones and laptops are among the first to feel the squeeze. The report notes that on November 3, Xiaomi Communications Technology’s marketing director told Weibo followers that next year’s cost estimates looked “a bit terrifying,” noting that any product using memory will be hit — with PCs taking the hardest blow due to their larger capacities. Xiaomi founder Lei Jun had voiced similar concerns earlier, saying memory prices had climbed “far too much” in recent weeks.

Interestingly, Yicai notes that social media has been buzzing with the phrase “memory crazier than gold” for the past month, even landing on Weibo’s trending list. The report highlights that the 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max now costs RMB 4,000 more than the 1TB model, while on the Android side, upgrading from 256GB to 512GB typically adds RMB 500–600.

The surge is also hitting laptops. As per Yicai, a Lenovo 16GB DDR5 module that stayed around RMB 300 from May to early September has jumped to RMB 599, and a Samsung 16GB DDR5 module priced near RMB 400 in September has climbed to RMB 738.

TrendForce, cited by Yicai, notes that DDR4 supply is expected to remain tight through at least Q1 2026. To cope with the shortage, PC OEMs are likely to accelerate the shift to DDR5 models, while TV and networking device makers may slow their migration from DDR3 to DDR4, as per TrendForce.

It is interesting to note that the price surge has reached the industrial PC sector, typically seen as more niche. The Economic Daily News reports that Taiwan’s Advantech raised motherboard-level products by 4% and system-level products by 8% in early October, passing on higher DDR4 and SSD costs to customers.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)