On November 11, China's Lanjinger reported that some major memory makers have begun verbally telling customers they plan to raise prices on enterprise products. No formal notice has been issued yet, but a distributor source interviewed by the outlet said prices are already rising in DRAM contract transactions and in the distribution market for enterprise SSDs. DRAM and the NAND flash memory used in SSDs differ in applications and supply-demand structure, but purchasing conditions are tightening for both. Even when large customers have secured supply volumes through long-term contracts, prices are not necessarily fixed. For small and midsize manufacturers in particular, the challenge is not only coping with higher prices but also securing the volumes they need on a stable basis.
Major makers hint at further hikes; small firms face severe sourcing difficulties
According to Lanjinger's reporting, the price increases are not spreading uniformly across all memory products. They are mainly being observed in DRAM contract transactions and at the manufacturer and distribution stages for enterprise SSDs. The distributor source said some major makers had conveyed their intent to raise prices verbally but had not issued formal notices. The size and timing of each manufacturer's increase have not been disclosed.
The most affected are small and midsize module makers and manufacturers that buy memory and build it into their products. According to the distributor source, manufacturers allocate supply volumes based on customer size and contract terms, making it hard for smaller firms to source enterprise products reliably. Even when they buy expensive components on the spot market, they reportedly cannot fully pass those costs on in the prices of their finished goods. However, this description of supply allocation rests on the source's testimony, and it has not been confirmed that all manufacturers use common criteria.
Reporting by The Paper also says prices are rising not only for enterprise DRAM and SSDs but for consumer products as well. There is still room for price negotiation on consumer products, though. Even when consumer-market demand is weak, prices across memory products as a whole do not necessarily fall, and price movements differ by application and transaction terms.
Long-term contracts secure supply, but prices are not fixed
In long-term contracts between large customers and memory makers, securing supply volume and determining price do not necessarily go hand in hand. According to SK hynix's third-quarter 2026 results, announced October 28, the company has signed long-term supply agreements with 14 major customers, including cloud service providers. The contracts typically run five years, and discussions on extending them are also under way. The contracted volumes correspond to more than 50% of total production capacity for 2027–2028, but selling prices fluctuate with market conditions within a range agreed with each customer.
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics' results, announced October 29, set out a policy of building a stable sales base through multi-year contracts. With production capacity constrained, the company plans to prioritize AI-related products and expand sales of HBM (high-bandwidth memory), server DRAM and SSDs. Breaking down the two companies' disclosures by contract volume, term and pricing terms gives the table below. However, because it cannot be confirmed that the covered products and scope of aggregation are the same, the scale of the contracts cannot be compared directly.
| Company / disclosure date | Contract status | Volume and period covered | Contract term | Pricing terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SK hynix, Oct. 28 | Signed with 14 major customers | Contracted volume equals more than 50% of total production capacity for 2027–2028 | Typically 5 years; extensions under discussion | Reflects market conditions within an agreed price range |
| Samsung, Oct. 29 | Aims to build a stable sales base through multi-year contracts | No specific volume or ratio stated in the relevant passage | Multi-year; number of years not stated | No specific mechanism stated in the relevant passage |
Under SK hynix's long-term contracts, customers can secure supply volumes for a set period, but the price they actually pay moves with the market. In other words, signing a long-term contract does not fully shield a buyer from higher procurement costs as memory prices rise. The company's figure of more than 50% is also based on total production capacity; it does not represent the share of contracts for enterprise SSDs alone, nor does it mean industry-wide capacity is already sold out. As for Samsung, the absence of specific figures in this disclosure alone is not grounds for concluding that no long-term contracts exist or that selling prices are fixed.
The major makers' official announcements and the sourcing difficulties of small manufacturers reported by Lanjinger concern different transactions and customers, and no direct causal link between them has been confirmed. Still, both point to the importance of securing supply in the memory market. Large customers are locking in the volumes they need through long-term contracts, while smaller manufacturers must cope with both shortages and rising prices. What matters is not just the market-wide rate of increase but which companies can buy which products under what contract terms.
Enterprise SSD price reactions differ by region
Demand for enterprise memory and reactions to price hikes also vary by region and customer. In the public summary of its October 30 enterprise SSD report, research firm TrendForce said additional orders are active in North America, where buyers appear willing to accept higher prices. In China, by contrast, resistance to price increases is strong, owing to uncertainty over when AI-related investment will translate into revenue and to GPU supply constraints, among other factors. The report's public table of contents also states that enterprise SSD contract prices will rise 15–20% in the fourth quarter of 2026, but the comparison period is not specified.
Organizing TrendForce's fourth-quarter 2026 price outlook by product shows differences in the size of the increases. The figures below come from materials published on different dates and covering different products, and for enterprise SSDs the comparison period could not be confirmed.
| Product | Q4 2026 contract price outlook | Publication date |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise SSD | Up 15–20%; comparison period not stated in public table of contents | Oct. 30 report |
| PC DRAM | Up 13–18% quarter on quarter | Nov. 11 |
| Client SSD | Up less than 5% quarter on quarter | Nov. 11 |
The 15–20% figure for enterprise SSDs comes from the public table of contents, not from the body of the paid report, and the same rate will not necessarily apply to all regions or transactions. The outlooks for PC DRAM and client SSDs are based on research TrendForce announced on November 11. According to the firm, some PC makers are revising their memory procurement plans for the period from the fourth quarter of 2026 through the first quarter of 2027. Even for products with relatively small price increases, supply is not necessarily ample.
In research announced on September 30, TrendForce also noted that most of the additional enterprise SSD supply available in the fourth quarter of 2026 had already been allocated, limiting the volumes obtainable on the open market. For server DRAM, it forecast that price pricing terms in long-term contracts could cause some makers' increases to lag the market average. Given these differences, it is difficult to judge an individual company's sourcing environment from the average rate of memory price increases alone. The actual burden is likely to vary widely depending on contract terms, purchase volumes and timing.
Capacity expansion proceeds, but concerns over prolonged shortages remain
In response to growing demand, memory makers are also expanding production capacity. SK hynix plans to raise M15X capacity to its maximum by the end of 2026 and increase output of HBM4 for AI. For NAND flash, it has set out a plan to raise the share of 321-layer products in its domestic production capacity to more than 50% in the fourth quarter of 2026. It also plans to sharply expand capital spending, including bringing the first phase of its Yongin facility into full operation in 2027. However, it says it will adjust the scale and timing of investment flexibly according to market conditions.
Even so, SK hynix does not expect the memory supply shortage to ease in the short term. Citing the technical difficulty of advanced manufacturing processes and the time needed to bring new facilities online, it forecasts that demand will exceed supply through 2030. That is the manufacturer's own business outlook, however, and future supply and demand are not settled. HBM and NAND flash for SSDs are also different products, and increased HBM output does not necessarily reduce the NAND supply available for SSDs. How much capacity for each product actually grows needs to be checked individually.
The first thing to watch is whether the verbally communicated price increases are turned into formal notices. Once target products, timing and increase sizes are clear, the impact on buyers will become more concrete. It will also matter how far shipments under long-term contracts with large customers progress, and whether spare supply created by expansion reaches smaller manufacturers. To judge memory supply and demand, it is necessary to keep tracking actual shipment volumes and pricing terms, not just the capacity expansions manufacturers announce.