DRAM prices expected to nearly double in Q1

"In early January, the industry watchers at TrendForce warned the contract prices of DRAM, the kind used in everything from smartphones to servers, could rise by 55-60 percent sequentially during the first quarter of 2026. At the same time, NAND flash, which is used in solid state storage, was expected to rise by 33-38 percent. TrendForce this week revised its estimates with analysts now predicting DRAM contract pricing will surge by 90-95 percent QoQ, while NAND prices are expected to increase by 55-60 percent during the current quarter."

"TrendForce now expects PC DRAM to roughly double in price from the holiday quarter. And the firm forecasts similarly steep increases for LPDDR memory used in notebooks and other soldered-RAM systems, as well as in smartphones. TrendForce predicts pricing on LPDDR4x and LPDDR5x memory to increase by roughly 90 percent QoQ, the "steepest increases in their history." While LPDDR memory has mostly been used in notebooks up to this point, Nvidia's most powerful rack systems contain 54 terabytes of LPDDR5x memory each, which we can't imagine is helping the situation."

DRAM contract prices have been revised sharply upward, with analysts predicting a 90–95% quarter-over-quarter surge in Q1 2026 and NAND flash rising 55–60%. Earlier forecasts had been lower, but accelerating AI-driven demand from hyperscalers and cloud providers plus stronger-than-expected PC shipments in late 2025 intensified shortages. OEMs typically buy memory in bulk a year ahead, delaying system price increases until inventories draw down and restocking occurs. LPDDR4x and LPDDR5x pricing is expected to jump about 90% QoQ, driven further by high-density deployments such as Nvidia rack systems and a rush to populate SSDs by hyperscalers and CSPs.

Read at Theregister