AI Data Center Soaring demand coupled with limited wafer supply is rapidly widening the supply-demand gap in the memory industry. Against this backdrop, another leading company has issued a price increase notice.
According to Taiwan's DigiTimes, flash memory leader SanDisk... SanDisk significantly raised its NAND flash memory contract prices in November, with increases of up to 50% .
It is worth noting that this is at least the third price increase by SanDisk this year . After announcing a 10% price increase across its entire product line in April, it implemented a 10% general price increase across all channels and consumer products in early September, firing the "first shot" in the storage price hike and prompting storage giants such as Micron to follow suit with price increases.
The industry had previously anticipated a rise in NAND flash memory contract prices in the fourth quarter, but the increase was far less than 50%. For example, TrendForce estimated an average increase of 5%-10%.
Therefore, SanDisk 's latest price increase has naturally shaken the entire storage supply chain, leading module manufacturers such as Transcend, Innodisk, and Apacer Technology to suspend shipments and reassess their pricing. Transcend, in particular, suspended its pricing and delivery services starting November 7, citing "expectations that the market will continue to improve," implying that "prices may rise further."
Before issuing the price increase notice, SanDisk had already learned about its customers' demand expectations for 2027 and gave a rather optimistic forecast for the NAND flash memory market demand:
On November 6th local time, during a conference call following the release of the first fiscal quarter of 2026 (ending October 3rd of this year), company executives stated that downstream contract orders are shifting from traditional quarterly submissions to long-term contracts spanning multiple quarters. Customers, seeking supply stability, are sharing their demand forecasts for the entire year of 2027 with SanDisk. Market demand for SanDisk NAND flash memory products exceeds supply capacity, and the company expects this situation to continue until 2026 and beyond . It is anticipated that in 2026, data centers will surpass mobile devices for the first time to become the largest source of demand for NAND flash memory, which will bring about significant changes to the NAND flash memory market.
Transcend, one of the module manufacturers that suspended quotations and shipments, stated at a media briefing on the 7th that this round of storage shortages was driven by AI demand, and that "the shortage situation is the most severe in 30 years." With the tight supply of hard drives for data centers , demand for solid-state drives (SSDs) has increased, leading to a shortage of NAND flash memory. In October, suppliers reportedly failed to deliver, and in November, prices surged by 50%.
Research firm TrendForce also pointed out in its report this week that the spot price of NAND flash memory has risen even more significantly, driven by the release and substantial increase of contract prices. However, as manufacturers are profit-maximizing, the wafer resources they release are quite limited; at the same time, manufacturers holding inventory expect prices to continue to rise, thus they are reluctant to sell, resulting in a situation where "it is difficult to find" in the market.
As for DRAM, the three major manufacturers had already suspended quotations before this.
On November 3rd, news broke that Samsung Electronics had suspended its October DDR5 DRAM contract pricing, with the resumption expected to be delayed until mid-November, prompting other memory manufacturers such as SK Hynix and Micron to follow suit. Industry insiders revealed that while a price increase for memory contracts in the fourth quarter was a market consensus, it was previously anticipated that fourth-quarter contract prices would be finalized by the end of October. However, Samsung's reluctance to provide contract prices, directly informing downstream customers that it had "no stock to sell," caused DDR5 spot prices to surge by 25% in just one week.
Guosheng Securities It is noted that, based on various guidance sources, the intensity and duration of this round of storage price increases have exceeded previous cycles, and the storage sector still warrants attention. (Tianfeng Securities) The analyst believes the essence of the storage supercycle is a shift from a "cycle" to a "structure." Previously, price increases and extended delivery times in the chip industry were mainly due to short-term rebounds caused by supply-side production cuts. However, the current AI-driven "supercycle" exhibits significant structural characteristics. The analyst recommends paying attention to Jiangbolong. Shannon Core Innovation Demingli Biwin Storage Netac Technology Lianyun Technology GigaDevice Beijing Junzheng PuRan Group Dongxin Technology Hengshuo Co., Ltd. Montage Technology Juchen Technology Shenzhen Technology Taiji Industry Wanrun Technology .
(Source: Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily)
