Samsung has reportedly secured long-term contracts covering 75% – 80% of its planned memory output in 2027, according to South Korea's Korea Economic Daily (via @Jukan05 ). SK hynix is reportedly pursuing similar arrangements as AI infrastructure investments continue to absorb available memory capacity.
Market insiders and analysts expect memory supply shortages to persist through at least 2028, and that gives manufacturers considerable leverage in contract negotiations. Memory suppliers have little incentive to reduce prices and are eager to enjoy their position, but Musk's warning suggests that today’s pricing policies could influence customer relationships once supply and demand eventually return to balance.
Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News , or add us as a preferred source , to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.
Anton Shilov Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
FoxtrotMichael-1 This article kind of reads like a hit piece on Micron. Obviously they’re making outrageous profit on the current situation, but this bit in particular: This time around, however, manufacturers have raised memory prices severalfold without comparable increases in production capacity. As a result, supply still lags behind demand and will continue to do so for years to come, which puts further upward pressure on memory prices. makes it sound like Micron is simply choosing to not increase production. In reality they’re already producing as much memory as they possibly can. They have 4 construction projects in the works: 3 totally new fabs and one expansion of an existing fab. This article makes it sound like current fabs are sitting at 50% production capacity which just isn’t true. They’re making memory as fast as they can and it’s still sold out through 2027. That’s just how much demand there is for memory right now. Reply
Zaranthos It wasn't that long ago (2023) memory companies were losing billions. It took Micron years to erase losses and return to profitability with some predicting their demise. It's also not like they ship their products to stores and price them however they want, they largely secure contract pricing and orders well in advance so prices are set by market demand along with fab capacity. Right now much of the fab suppliers are the spread thin drug dealers with more strung out junkies with fists full of cash than they can deal with. Come on man, I need it bad, I'll pay whatever you want for just a little fix… I would still like to see more spending on increasing fab capacity faster, but in this climate some of that may be stifled by anti data center groups fighting to stop any tech in their back yard. Nvidia has been the ultimate winner so far. Reply
PEnns Musk has selective memory….no pun intended. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/dram/elon-musk-accuses-samsung-sk-hynix-of-unreasonable-memory-pricing#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
- Alienware AW3226Q 32-inch 4K OLED gaming monitor review: Sleek design with performance and value to match
- NVIDIA Expands Advanced Technology Access for Europe’s Scientific Community Through Open Learning Resources, Collaborations and Compute
- European Cities Deploy NVIDIA-Powered AI Agents to Run Smarter Urban Operations
- 32GB of DDR5 6000 RAM now costs $450
- Grace Hopper Celebration canceled two weeks out as AnitaB.org runs short of funds
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.