The investment boom in AI infrastructure continues to heat up, exacerbating the supply-demand imbalance in the global memory market. Samsung Electronics has finalized the price increase for DRAM in the first quarter at over 100%, a revision upward from the negotiation results a month ago.
On March 4th, according to the South Korean tech media The Elec, Samsung Electronics completed the final negotiations on the first quarter DRAM supply prices with major clients last month. The average price of general DRAM for servers, PCs, and mobile devices has increased by about 100% compared to the previous quarter, doubling compared to the fourth quarter of last year, with some clients and products seeing increases exceeding 100%.
The report cites industry insiders revealing that the negotiations have been fully wrapped up, and some overseas clients have completed payments. This increase has expanded by about 30 percentage points from the 70% level negotiated in January this year within just one month.
The rapid rise in prices is reshaping the contractual practices in the memory industry. The supply negotiation cycle has been compressed from traditional annual contracts to quarterly contracts, and now even requires monthly adjustments, reflecting the severity of the supply-demand imbalance in the market.
<h2>HBM Occupies Capacity, General DRAM Supply Limited</h2>
The core driving force behind this round of DRAM price surge stems from the global expansion of AI infrastructure investment. As data center operators deploy AI chips on a large scale, the demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) that supports computing power has surged sharply. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron have all shifted their production capacity towards HBM, leading to a significant squeeze on the supply of general DRAM for servers, PCs, and mobile devices.
While supply is contracting, demand remains strong. The demand for end products such as AI servers, AI PCs, and AI smartphones continues to be robust, with the supply-demand gap constantly widening, driving prices higher. Reports indicate that some overseas tech giants have specifically traveled to South Korea to engage in direct negotiations with memory manufacturers like Samsung Electronics to secure supply volumes, further intensifying market tension expectations.
<h2>SK Hynix and Micron Price Increases Similar</h2>
This round of price increases is not solely an action by Samsung Electronics. Reports citing industry insiders indicate that SK Hynix and Micron have also completed first-quarter supply contract negotiations with similar price increases, establishing a collective price increase pattern among the three major memory manufacturers.
Looking back to January this year, Samsung Electronics' DRAM quarterly contract price increase was about 70%, while NAND saw an increase of about 100%, which had already attracted widespread market attention. The further increase of DRAM prices to over 100% this time indicates that in the ongoing negotiations, the growth rate of demand continues to exceed the pace of supply expansion, forcing the price center to rise again.
<h2>Price Surge Expected to Continue into Q2</h2>
Market expectations for rising memory prices remain strong. Reports cite research firm Gartner predicting that this year, the combined prices of DRAM and solid-state drives (SSD) will increase by about 130% compared to last year. Nvidia delivered its best-ever performance report on the 25th of last month, further dispelling external doubts about an AI bubble and providing strong support for the continued expansion of memory demand.
Reports citing industry insiders indicate that DRAM and NAND prices are expected to continue their upward trend in the second quarter, with the pace of increase possibly slowing, but the upward price trend itself is an irreversible trend. For downstream clients, the continued rise in memory procurement costs will further increase the overall cost structure of servers and end devices

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Samsung Electronics' DRAM price increase for the first quarter has been finalized at over 100%, expanding by about 30 percentage points from the 70% level negotiated a month ago. According to South Korean media reports, some overseas customers have completed payments, and the supply negotiation cycle has been compressed from annual to quarterly and even monthly. This round of price increases is driven by the AI investment boom, which has squeezed HBM capacity, leading to limited supply of general DRAM while demand remains strong. SK Hynix and Micron are following with similar price increases, establishing a collective price increase pattern among the three major manufacturers, with the upward trend expected to continue into the second quarter

- The global demand for DRAM has surged, with Samsung Electronics reporting a price increase exceeding 100% for the first quarter supply negotiations.  
- This price hike, driven by the expansion of AI infrastructure investments, has led to a shift in industry norms, compressing supply negotiations from annual to quarterly and even monthly adjustments.  
- Analysts predict that this upward trend in memory prices will continue into the second quarter, increasing overall costs for servers and end devices.

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After a month, it surged again. Report: Samsung Electronics Q1 DRAM price increase adjusted from 70% to 100%