Electronic Engineering Times (EETimes), January 8 — The global memory chip market is experiencing an unprecedented wave of price hikes. On January 8, 2026, Samsung Electronics released its preliminary earnings report, showing that its operating profit in Q4 2025 reached 20 trillion KRW (approx. USD 13.82 billion), surging 208% year-on-year and hitting a record-high quarterly profit in the company’s history. In the same period, its sales revenue rose 23% year-on-year to 93 trillion KRW, exceeding the 80 trillion KRW mark for two consecutive quarters.

Behind Samsung’s stellar performance lies the tight supply and AI-driven surge in demand, which have pushed up prices of traditional memory chips. The skyrocketing demand for memory chips in training and running AI models has kept the supply chain under persistent strain. Industry forecasts indicate that memory prices soared 40% to 50% in Q4 2025; they are projected to climb another 40% to 50% in Q1 2026, followed by a further 20% increase in Q2 2026.

Divergent Price Trends for Different Chip Specifications, DDR4 Outpaces Expectations

Price growth varies significantly across chip specifications. The contract price of DDR4 memory is expected to surge 90% in Q1 2026, outperforming even DDR5. This phenomenon stems from the three major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) shifting their core production capacity to high-end products such as DDR5, LPDDR and HBM, leading to a drastic contraction in DDR4 production capacity. Samsung originally planned to phase out DDR4 production by the end of 2025, but has postponed the plan to the end of 2026 due to severe supply-demand imbalance in the market.

Earlier this week, sources reported that Samsung and its domestic competitor SK Hynix have proposed price increases to their DRAM customers in the server, PC and smartphone sectors, with Q1 2026 quotes set to rise 60% to 70% compared with Q4 2025.

Cloud Vendors Emerge as Major Buyers, End Markets Under Pressure

There has also been a notable shift in the market demand structure. Cloud service providers have become the main purchasers of memory chips, with their premium-paying capacity 50% to 60% higher than that of mobile phone manufacturers. Data shows that in 2026, demand for DRAM in general-purpose servers will grow 20% year-on-year, and demand for NAND Flash will rise 19%; demand for DRAM in AI servers is expected to increase 15%, while demand for NAND Flash will surge by over 70%.

The rising memory chip prices have triggered a chain reaction in the end markets. Xiaomi recently launched the Xiaomi 17 Ultra with a starting price 500 CNY higher than its predecessor, as smartphone manufacturers are generally facing mounting cost pressures. According to Counterpoint Research analysis, the proportion of memory in the Bill of Materials (BOM) of the iPhone 17 Pro Max has exceeded 10%, up significantly from 8% in the 2020 iPhone 12 Pro Max. For flagship models equipped with high-end memory, memory costs may account for more than 20% of the BOM.

It is worth noting that the automotive industry has also become a key contender for memory chip resources. On January 6, 2026, Li Bin, founder and chairman of NIO Inc., stated that the automotive industry is competing with the AI industry for resources. Memory chips are now essential for smart vehicle chips, and for cars equipped with standard advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), the price hikes of raw materials and memory chips are critical issues for the entire industry.

Conclusion: The Super Cycle May Persist

The industry expects that the current "super bull market" cycle for memory chips may last until the first half of 2027. Although major memory OEMs have planned to increase capital expenditures and build new factories, it takes at least two years for new production capacity to move from construction to mass production. The tight supply situation is not expected to be alleviated until the second half of 2027.