2024.08.22

SK Hynix Preps Large-Scale DRAM Price Hike, DDR5 Up To 20% Expensive


Consumer memory prices are expected to skyrocket within the upcoming quarters as the Korean giant SK Hynix preps massive price hikes for DDR5 DRAM.


Korean Giant SK Hynix Will Bump Up DDR5-DRAM Chip Prices By Up To 20%, Other Manufacturers To Follow.


Well, reports surrounding price hikes in DRAM chips have been circulating the internet for quite some time now, but it looks like the consumer segment might soon start to see the effects of the large-scale price changes that are inbound in the industry. Taiwan Economic Daily reports that with firms being busy catering to the HBM demand from AI markets, DRAM production has taken a hit, which is why it is disclosed that SK hynix plans to implement a DDR5 price bump of 15% to 20%, in an attempt to boost profits and capitalize on the situation,


The memory markets weren't in their best position a few quarters ago, given that they were reporting a steady decline in QoQ revenue, associated with the lack of consumer demand and large inventory. Companies like Samsung made efforts to implement inventory corrections by taking financial losses, but it looks like things are looking to recover for the DRAM industry, credit to the AI hype. Mainstream firms like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are all focused on HBM production, which is why DDR5 and other memory products have seen a compromise in market supply.


SK hynix looks to utilize 20% of DRAM memory production lines for HBM, while Samsung has announced that it looks to reserve 30% of DRAM production for the in-demand HBM memory. With industry giants looking to reduce DRAM supply, it's only a matter of time before this translates into a large-scale bump in memory prices, and as we reported earlier, consumers can look towards an average increase of up to 50% in DDR5 memory prices, whether this occurs in a matter of weeks, or even months.


If you are waiting to acquire DDR5 memory modules, now might be the best time to snag them, given that DDR5 prices can increase significantly, and with the debut of next-gen CPUs such as AMD's Ryzen 9000 & Intel's Arrow Lake chips in the second half of the year, the demand is only going to increase from here, which can lead to a supply shock, if things continue the way they are.