Persistent Supply Shortages Keep NAND Resource Costs Elevated, Driving Continued Price Increases Across OEM, Channel, and Embedded Products

Since the fourth quarter of last year, Memory Manufacturers have prioritized allocating resources to the server market, continuously squeezing spot market supply and driving significant month-over-month increases in resource prices. Prices for some 1Tb wafers have already surpassed $20. Despite a noticeable sharp decline in shipment volumes for OEM, channel, and embedded products due to excessively high prices, the current market remains primarily cost-driven, continuing to push finished memory product prices further upward.

As the month end approaches, several domestic memory module manufacturer have released their 2025 performance forecasts. Riding the wave of price increases, these module manufacturers saw their Q4 net profits surge tenfold year-on-year. However, the current supply-demand imbalance in the spot market shows little sign of improvement. With module manufacturers' existing inventories being rapidly depleted, the fast-paced rise in resource costs is gradually increasing the cost pressure associated with new procurement while also beginning to deter some price-sensitive customers. In the coming period, memory module manufacturers will face severe challenges on multiple fronts, including supply chain resilience, cost control, and potential backlash from the demand side.

In terms of upstream resources, last Friday saw price adjustments for 1Tb QLC, 1Tb TLC, 512Gb TLC, and 256Gb TLC to $19.00, $20.00, $16.00, and $10.00 respectively. This week, the price for DDR5 16Gb eTT was raised to $22, while prices for other DDR5 and DDR4 chips remained unchanged.

Flash Wafer Latest Quotations

DDR Latest Quotations

Channel SSD Latest Quotations

Channel DDR Module Latest Quotations

The channel trading atmosphere remains particularly intense, with NAND resources like 512Gb and 1Tb Flash Wafers frequently updating their quotes. This week, channel SSDs, along with DDR4 and DDR5 modules, continued their upward price adjustments. It is noteworthy that the cumulative price increase for the vast majority of channel finished products this month falls within the 20%-60% range. Apart from some channel brands and PC OEM customers, most other customers find it difficult to accept these high prices, leading to generally low transaction volumes in the channel market. Furthermore, with less than three weeks remaining until the Chinese New Year holiday, some traders have begun issuing holiday notices, and channel manufacturers are also starting to suspend order acceptance and price quoting.

Since the beginning of this month, OEM manufacturers have successively raised finished product prices due to the pass-through of new procurement costs. Based on current demand-side performance, customers in industrial control and specific applications show higher price acceptance, while some PC OEMs require more time to digest and accept the increases. Regarding DRAM, the supply of high-grade DDR chips from upstream suppliers to memory module manufacturers has been nearly stagnant for the past half year. Although some memory module manufacturers have procured lower-grade resources as an alternative to maintain normal production line operations, the instability in the supply of certain lower-grade resources, coupled with ongoing inventory depletion, has created greater room for price increases for some OEM DDR4 modules.

OEM SSD Latest Quotations

OEM DDR Module Latest Quotations

According to data from CFM, the ASP for 256Gb/512Gb Wafers has reached as high as $0.31/$0.25. Simultaneously, upstream suppliers are strictly controlling the supply of mainstream MLC NAND. The scarcity and unstable allocation of these resources make it exceptionally difficult for memory module manufacturers to replenish inventories, making the supply-demand imbalance relatively more severe. Benefiting from the widespread use of low-capacity embedded applications—including automotive, TV, wearables, set-top boxes, robotics, and POS systems—storage manufacturers in this rising market will also select customer groups based on price advantages. This week, eMMC product prices continued to rise, with corresponding integrated products following the upward trend.

eMMC Latest Quotations

eMCP Latest Quotations

LPDDR Latest Quotations

UFS Latest Quotations

uMCP Latest Quotations