Sandisk, rumored to increase prices by 50%

According to DigiTimes Asia, SanDisk has significantly raised its NAND flash contract prices by 50% in November. This move highlights the rapidly tightening supply in the memory market, driven by continuous demand from artificial intelligence data centers and a severe shortage of wafer supply.

The report cites market sources stating that SanDisk's price adjustment has caused ripples in the storage supply chain, prompting module manufacturers such as Transcend, Innodisk, and Apacer Technology to suspend shipments and reassess their quotes. In particular, Transcend has suspended quoting and shipping since November 7, expecting that "the market environment will continue to improve." In other words, "prices may continue to rise before stabilizing."

If you want to understand how hot the memory industry is, just look at these figures:

Transcend reported a consolidated revenue of NT$41.1 billion (US$1.33 billion) for the third quarter of 2025, a 27% increase quarter-on-quarter and a 63% increase year-on-year, with a gross margin of 45%. Net profit increased by 334% year-on-year.

Innodisk's revenue reportedly grew by 64% year-on-year to NT$38 billion (US$1.23 billion), with net profit increasing by nearly 250%.

Apacer Technology also seems to be keeping pace, with third-quarter revenue reaching NT$32.2 billion (US$1.04 billion), a 70% increase compared to the same period last year.

All three companies attribute their performance growth to the concentration of wafer supply, with these fabs prioritizing the production of high-margin DRAM, such as DDR5 and HBM (high bandwidth memory) used in AI servers and high-performance computing devices. However, the problem lies with older DDR4 products—though still crucial for industrial and enterprise systems—currently facing supply shortages, further driving up prices for downstream products.

This mirrors the situation across the entire chip industry this year: AI workloads dominate. Fabs are allocating more production lines to cutting-edge memory production for GPUs and accelerators, leading to shortages in the consumer-grade SSD, embedded module, and mainstream DDR4 memory sectors. What’s the result? Memory suppliers' profits soar, while OEMs and end-users are left scrambling. DigiTimes notes that Transcend expects the market's "upward momentum" to continue, as companies seek to balance price increases with limited production capacity.

If you are considering upgrading your existing equipment or expanding data center capacity, now may be the time to act quickly. With SanDisk's NAND flash prices rising and ongoing DRAM memory shortages, the price trend for SSDs and memory modules is only heading in one direction: up, not down. Historical experience shows that memory manufacturers are not eager to rapidly expand supply when they smell profits. AI continues to consume every remaining chip the industry can produce, and this shortage may persist until 2026—unless the AI bubble suddenly bursts, but even then, our economy would face greater challenges

DRAM Prices Soar 172% Year-on-Year

According to the latest report from CTEE, DRAM memory prices have surged by 171.8% year-on-year, making it one of the most valuable assets across various applications from data centers to home computers. If you are assembling a computer and have noticed the skyrocketing prices of your desired memory kits, you are not alone. The shortage of DRAM memory has led to these modules' prices reaching exorbitant levels. This is primarily due to the ever-increasing demand for artificial intelligence, as the continuous expansion of data centers has nearly exhausted memory and storage supplies.

Even more concerning is that South Korean memory giants like Samsung and SK Hynix are unable to fulfill all orders, currently completing only 70%. This has resulted in a delivery rate of just 70% for orders from primary cloud service providers in the United States and China, depleting most buyers' previously thought secure inventories. Memory module manufacturers like Kingston and ADATA now need to pay $13 for 16GB DDR5 chips, whereas just six weeks ago, the price was only $7, such a significant increase is enough to wipe out all their gross profits. Even more worrying is that small OEM manufacturers and channel distributors have been informed that their order delivery rates are expected to be only 35% to 40% by the first quarter of 2026. If this situation continues, it will not only delay their planned product launches but also jeopardize their expected revenues. They face the choice of either taking a gamble in the spot market for high profits or leaving their production lines idle.

By checking popular websites like PCPartPicker, which cover nearly all product prices, we noticed that a G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 memory kit, which used to cost around $106, is now priced at $239 on Newegg. This alone confirms that prices have indeed risen, and we can only hope for an improvement in the situation. However, merely hoping is not enough. ADATA CEO Chen Libai boldly claimed that the last quarter of this year will mark the beginning of significant price increases in the memory industry, while also indicating that supply tightness is imminent. Similarly, Phison Electronics CEO has stated that the NAND flash shortage could last for up to ten years.

Author and Source: Semiconductor Industry Observer, Original Title: "Sandisk, Price Increase of 50%"

Risk Warning and Disclaimer

The market has risks, and investment requires caution. This article does not constitute personal investment advice and does not take into account the specific investment goals, financial conditions, or needs of individual users. Users should consider whether any opinions, views, or conclusions in this article are suitable for their specific circumstances. Investment based on this is at one's own risk