Recently, the global storage market is experiencing an unprecedented sharp fluctuation. A price increase storm triggered by the upstream source has swept to every corner of the industrial chain, causing the prices of DRAM (memory), NAND Flash (flash memory) and terminal products SSD (solid-state drive) to continue to rise. Industry experts point out that the breadth and depth of this price increase are rarely seen in decades, and there are no signs of easing for now. It is expected to have a profound impact on the entire electronics market, from enterprise-level procurement to personal consumption.

Core observation: A comprehensive supply crisis
Unlike previous short-term price hikes caused by occasional events, this round of price hikes for storage products features a full range of categories, structural characteristics, and a long cycle.

Chen Libai, the chairman of ADATA Technology, publicly stated that the current situation of supply tightness and price increase for the four major product categories of DRAM, NAND Flash, SSD and HDD is "unprecedented" in his 30-year career. This statement profoundly reflects the severe situation of the current market.

Major module manufacturers suspend quotations: Due to extremely unstable supply and rapidly changing prices, several memory module manufacturers, including ADATA and TEAMGROUP
, once suspended quotations for consumer-grade DRAM products, adopting a "holding back sales" strategy to cope with market uncertainties.

DRAM (Memory) market: HBM devouring capacity, DDR4 is in short supply The supply tightness in the DRAM market is the most severe, and behind it lies a profound industrial structure adjustment.

1: HBM (High-bandwidth Memory) has become a capacity "black hole" : As the AI arms race intensifies, the demand for high-performance HBM has grown explosively. The world's top three DRAM original equipment manufacturers - Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron - have shifted a large amount of advanced process capacity to produce HBM and DDR5 in pursuit of higher profits. This has led to a severe squeeze in the production capacity of traditional DRAM, especially DDR4, and a significant reduction in supply.
2: DDR4 is facing a "doomsday" crisis: There were rumors that original manufacturers would resume DDR4 production capacity, but this has been explicitly refuted by industry leaders. Adata pointed out that it was completely uneconomical to resume production after the original factory dismantled the DDR4 production line. This means that the tight supply of DDR4 will be permanent, and its price has thus become the leader of this round of increase, climbing for several consecutive months.

3: Price trend
In its next quarter quotations in October, Micron set a requirement for a "significant increase" in DRAM products.
According to the forecast of market research firm TrendForce, the contract price of DRAM in the fourth quarter of 2025 is expected to rise by more than 30% quarter-on-quarter, with an astonishing increase.

NAND Flash and SSD market: Cost-push increase under Chain Reaction
Although the price hikes of NAND Flash and SSDS are partly due to market speculation, the fundamental driving force also comes from upstream control and demand pull.

1: Upstream original equipment manufacturers (Oems) firmly control the market: NAND Flash Oems such as Samsung, SK Group, and Kioxia have proactively reduced market supply by strictly controlling output and delaying the commissioning progress of new factories, and have continuously sent out signals of price hikes, effectively supporting the price of Flash wafers.

2: Soaring Wafer prices: As the core raw material of SSDS, the price of NAND Flash wafers has risen sharply in the past one and a half months, with the increase of some capacity products reaching as high as 15% to 20%. This sharp increase in raw material costs has inevitably and has already been passed on to the downstream SSD finished products.

3:SSD prices have risen across the board: The sharp increase in costs has forced module manufacturers and brand owners to raise the factory prices of SSDS. From SATA to NVMe protocols, and from consumer to enterprise, the prices of SSDS in all categories have entered a clear upward channel. For end consumers, the era when "SSDS were always on sale" has temporarily come to an end.
Future outlook: The price increase wave will continue until 2026
Based on the information from all sides, it is judged that this storage price increase storm is not a short-term fluctuation but the beginning of a medium - to long-term trend.

The demand for AI is the core driving force: The strong demand for HBM and high-capacity DRAM/SSD from AI servers will continue in the foreseeable future, and the capacity tilt strategy of original equipment manufacturers will not change.

Traditional demand recovery: Meanwhile, the traditional markets for smartphones, PCS and data centers are also steadily recovering, providing strong support for the demand of memory chips.

Limited supply growth: Original equipment manufacturers remain cautious in capital expenditure, with limited new production capacity, unable to meet the demands of all sectors in the short term.