Mobile DRAM and NAND prices surge over 70% and 100%, pushing Samsung, Apple to consider price hikes as manufacturing costs rise
The surge in demand for memory semiconductors amid the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has continued to drive up prices. Consequently, forecasts persist that prices for IT devices, such as smartphones and PCs, which rely heavily on memory semiconductors, will inevitably rise.
According to IT market research firm Omdia on the 11th, prices for mobile DRAM (LPDDR) products have risen by more than 70% compared to early last year. Additionally, prices for smartphone NAND flash memory were analyzed to have surged by approximately 100%. Counterpoint Research, another IT market research firm, projected that smartphone memory prices would rise by an additional 40% through the second quarter of this year, increasing the manufacturing cost of finished products by 8-10%.
This is expected to lead to price hikes for major IT products using memory semiconductors. TrendForce, a Taiwanese tech market analysis firm, stated, “The proportion of memory in smartphone manufacturing costs has exceeded 20% recently, up from the previous 10-15% level,” adding, “Due to the expanding trend of AI features, it is structurally difficult to reduce memory capacity.”
An industry official remarked, “A price increase for the Galaxy S26 series, set to launch next month, will be unavoidable.” Apple’s next-generation iPhone 18 is also highly likely to see a price hike, with Chinese smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo joining the trend. The PC and tablet markets are also affected by rising memory prices. Dell recently raised prices for enterprise laptops by up to 30%.
The burden of soaring memory costs is reflected in financial performance. Samsung Electronics recorded an operating profit of 20 trillion Korean won in the fourth quarter of last year, the highest in its history, but the operating profit of its MX and Network divisions, responsible for smartphones, is estimated to have sharply declined to around 2 trillion Korean won compared to the previous quarter.
These concerns were confirmed at CES, the world’s largest IT and electronics exhibition held recently in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roh Tae-moon, president of Samsung Electronics, said at a press briefing, “The rise in memory prices is the biggest concern,” adding, “It will inevitably affect product prices to some extent.” Lee Won-jin, Samsung Electronics’ global marketing chief (president), stated, “All companies will be impacted by semiconductor supply issues,” and, “While we do not want to pass the burden to consumers, we will eventually have to consider readjusting product prices.”
Akash Palkhiwala, chief financial officer (CFO) of Qualcomm, also noted, “The shortage of memory chips is quite severe, and the cause of this shortage is that five to six global companies are building data centers with massive capital expenditures.” Daniel Kim, an analyst at Macquarie, added, “A chaotic market continues, where companies struggle to secure necessary memory even at high prices due to overall supply shortages.”
