Prices to Double Again! Korean Media: Samsung Electronics Expects Q2 NAND Prices to Increase by 100%

The global AI investment boom is driving a surge in storage demand, intensifying the imbalance between supply and demand in the NAND market. According to Seoul Economic Daily, Samsung Electronics plans to set the price increase for its main NAND products in the second quarter at a level similar to that of the first quarter this year.

As previously reported by Wallstreet Insights, Samsung Electronics raised NAND prices by 100% in the first quarter, and DRAM prices also saw a 100% increase. This means that the cumulative increase in NAND supply prices has doubled since the end of last year.

Citing industry experts, Seoul Economic Daily reported that memory manufacturers now have unprecedented bargaining power, and downstream customers will have to accept the prices proposed by Samsung Electronics. Meanwhile, other manufacturers such as SK hynix and Kioxia are also preparing for further price hikes.

AI Inference Demand Surges, NAND Supply Falls Short

The sharp rise in NAND prices is primarily driven by the expanding storage demand resulting from advancements in AI technology. As AI evolves from the data training phase to inference, where it interprets and processes user requests, the requirement for massive data storage rises significantly, further amplifying NAND’s strategic value.

At the same time, leading tech companies are continuing to scale AI data center investments, causing a dramatic increase in storage equipment procurement that pushes NAND prices even higher.

Market research firm DRAMeXchange reports that the average fixed transaction price for 128Gb multi-level cell (MLC) general NAND products soared to $12.67 last month, a month-on-month increase of 33.9% and a year-on-year surge of 452.3%.

Supply Continues to Shrink, Manufacturers’ Bargaining Power Significantly Strengthened

Proactive supply reductions are another key factor behind the current strong price rally. Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, ranked first and second in the NAND market, have recently shifted their strategic focus to high-value-added products such as high bandwidth memory (HBM), leading to drastic cuts in NAND output. The production reduction initiated last year is still having an impact, making the structural supply tightness in the market difficult to reverse in the short term.

According to Seoul Economic Daily, with manufacturers wielding strong pricing power, even though transaction prices may vary slightly from customer to customer, the price hikes set by Samsung Electronics are expected to be broadly accepted by the market, and the upward trend in overall NAND prices is projected to continue for some time.

Price Hikes Spread, Strong Industry Consensus on Following Suit

As the leader in the global NAND market, Samsung Electronics’ pricing decisions have always served as an industry bellwether. Industry experts noted that key competitors like SK hynix and Kioxia are also preparing to raise prices, indicating that a ripple effect of rising prices across the NAND market has already begun to take shape.

For investors, the continued rise in NAND supply prices is expected to directly enhance the profitability of related memory makers. Given that the AI infrastructure investment cycle has yet to peak and top players are shifting capacity focus to HBM, the tight supply-demand environment and strong price performance in the NAND market may persist over a longer cycle.