[News] Samsung Reportedly to Raise Memory Price by 15-20% in Q3, Boosting Second Half Performance

According to a report from South Korean media Maeil Business Newspaper, Samsung Electronics plans to raise prices for server DRAM and enterprise NAND flash by 15% to 20% in the third quarter due to surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI). This move is expected to improve the company’s performance in the second half of the year, while boosting momentum for some Taiwanese companies like Nanya Technology, ADATA, TeamGroup and Transcend in the coming quarters.

Industry sources cited by a report from Economic Daily News believe that with manufacturers defending prices, there is strong support for the market. Additionally, as the three major manufacturers focus on developing high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which limits the output of DDR4 and DDR3, it helps maintain a healthy state for the DRAM industry.

Per Maeil Business Newspaper, sources have revealed on June 26th that Samsung Electronics has recently notified major customers about the planned price increase. The Device Solutions (DS) division, responsible for Samsung’s semiconductor business, held a global strategy meeting at its Hwaseong plant in Gyeonggi-do on the same day, where this matter was discussed.

The report further stated that Samsung Electronics had already increased the prices of NAND flash supplied to enterprises by at least 20% in the second quarter, anticipating that the AI boom will drive higher server demand in the second half of the year.

According to data from DRAMeXchange, the global sales of enterprise NAND flash reached $3.758 billion in the first quarter of this year, marking a 62.9% increase from the previous quarter. With the rising demand, some products are experiencing shortages.

TrendForce also notes that with a slight improvement in server demand, Samsung has indicated it will adopt a more aggressive pricing strategy for server DRAM and enterprise SSDs for 3Q24 deals. TrendForce’s price projections posit that server DRAM prices are expected to increase by more than 10% QoQ, with enterprise SSDs enjoying a similar price range. However, due to sluggish smartphone demand, price increases in mobile categories are expected to be more modest.

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(Photo credit: Samsung)