Memory prices have sharply rebounded in the third quarter of 2025, supported by increases in both volume and unit prices, boosting financial results for leading memory module manufacturers. Companies including Transcend, Innodisk, and Apacer Technology reported substantial year-on-year and sequential growth in revenue and net profit.

The surge in AI computing has led to a significant price increase in DRAM and NAND Flash, with major manufacturers raising prices by up to 30% in late 2025, putting cost pressure on Chinese smartphone brands and retailers.

The surge in storage demand driven by AI servers has caused a severe shortage of traditional hard disk drives (HDDs), with delivery times reportedly extending beyond two years. Major cloud service providers (CSPs) in North America and China are urgently increasing orders for high-capacity enterprise solid-state drives (SSDs). Some manufacturers' 2026 QLC NAND Flash production capacity has already been fully pre-purchased, prompting industry forecasts that global QLC bit shipments could surpass TLC NAND as early as 2027.

China's DRAM maker CXMT plans to start mass production of fourth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM3) in 2026 using mass reflow molded underfill (MR-MUF) packaging, the same technology employed by South Korea's SK Hynix, now the global HBM leader.

The global semiconductor industry is facing widening supply-demand imbalances amid the AI boom, with memory and processor chips in particularly short supply. Prices have surged while availability remains constrained, creating a shortage that has disrupted order patterns among major brands and fueled uncertainty across downstream sectors, including power supply and connector manufacturers.

Every year's new flagship phones bring questions regarding pricing. This year, Samsung's Galaxy S26 series is expected to see a price increase from its predecessor. As the memory market heats up and core component prices increase, smartphone makers are facing cost pressures.

Hanmi Semiconductor announced it will release a dedicated device called the "Wide TC Bonder" by the end of 2026, designed specifically for next-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM). Industry sources expect this equipment to be officially adopted starting with the eighth-generation HBM5.

SK Hynix has reportedly increased the price of its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) supplied to Nvidia by over 50% compared to the previous generation HBM3E. Industry sources say this successful pricing negotiation with Nvidia will further solidify SK Hynix's dominant position in the HBM market and drive revenue growth.

Continuous upgrades in memory technology have created a structural imbalance in supply and demand. Nevertheless, memory supplier Winbond Electronics delivered strong earnings in the third quarter of 2025. General manager Pei-Ming Chen stated that some customers are even seeking DDR4 long-term contracts of up to six years, and this structural shift is expected to last through 2027.

Nvidia's evaluation of sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) has sparked a fierce contest among suppliers. ETNews reports that the company plans to finish testing HBM4 chips from SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and Micron by mid-November 2025, a decision that will determine who secures orders for Nvidia's next-generation AI accelerator, Rubin, scheduled for launch in the second half of 2026.

Global memory supply constraints continue to pressure the industrial PC (IPC) market, with Taiwanese technology company Advantech Co. reporting that tight DDR4 memory availability reduced its gross margin by around 1% in the third quarter of 2025. During its third-quarter earnings call, Advantech disclosed that ongoing shortages of DDR4 DRAM chips have significantly impacted the entire supply chain for industrial PCs.

In less than a week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has orchestrated two of the largest national AI infrastructure deals in history—first delivering 260,000 AI chips to South Korea, then unveiling a EUR1 billion (US$1.15 billion) AI factory in Germany. The rapid-fire announcements signal a deliberate strategy: building sovereign AI capabilities that allow nations to control their own technological destinies.

Just 12 days after Samsung Group reached a market capitalization of KRW900 trillion (US$626.21 billion), it has surpassed the KRW1 quadrillion mark. Meanwhile, SK Group's market capitalization has already exceeded KRW500 trillion. Together, the two conglomerates now have a combined market cap of over KRW1.5 quadrillion.

Micron Technology is reportedly redesigning its sixth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) after facing yield and performance issues, a setback that could push back supply until 2027.

At the SK AI Summit 2025 in Seoul on November 3, 2025, SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung announced a major strategic overhaul, revealing plans to transform the South Korean memory maker from a traditional component supplier into a "Full Stack AI Memory Creator." The company outlined a roadmap through 2031 that details next-generation HBM, DRAM, and NAND solutions designed for artificial-intelligence applications.

Taiwanese DRAM manufacturer Nanya Technology recorded its highest single-month revenue in four years in October 2025, reporting NT$7.908 billion (approx. US$256 million). This marked an 18.66% increase from the previous month and a 262.37% jump compared to October 2024, driven primarily by a surge in demand for DDR4 memory products.

SK Group held the SK AI Summit 2025 to demonstrate its AI strengths in semiconductors, energy solutions, AI data centres, and AI agent services. Chairman Chey Tae-won said that as global demand for computing power accelerates, "efficiency" will be the key driver of future AI competition.

Since early 2025, global memory and storage chip prices have surged past industry expectations. Analysts say booming demand for AI infrastructure and high-performance servers is driving the rally, pushing costs quickly down the supply chain. Smartphone and PC makers are already under mounting cost pressure, a trend likely to extend into 2026.

Driven by the corporate AI boom, demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is expanding beyond its traditional niche into general-purpose memory. Prices for mainstream DRAM products like DDR5 continue to rise, prompting industry expectations of a profit structure reversal.

CXMT has released its LPDDR5X products on its official website to coincide with rising global memory prices. Many major companies, such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, are benefitting from the memory market boom; whether CXMT will capture a share of the market growth will depend on its capacity expansion and yield progress.

Amid tense US-China relations, shifting policies under the Trump administration, and growing concerns over an "AI bubble," Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has launched an intensive "diplomatic de-escalation" tour to defuse tensions. He recently made consecutive appearances at Nvidia's GTC conference in Washington, DC, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, demonstrating his flexible execution of the "Huang-style" strategy.

Silicon Motion Technology's president and CEO, Wallace Kou, has highlighted a severe and ongoing memory shortage, driven by structural changes in the memory industry caused by artificial intelligence (AI) growth. Speaking at a charity event co-hosted with the Chung Yi Social Welfare Foundation, Kou said this shortage surpasses even the semiconductor scarcity seen during the pandemic and is expected to continue through the end of 2026.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has confirmed continued collaboration with South Korean memory giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, highlighting their crucial role in the next wave of artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductor technology. Industry observers view Samsung's official entry into Nvidia's AI semiconductor supply chain as a landmark moment for South Korea's semiconductor sector.

The recent meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping has eased tensions between the two countries, de-escalating rare earth export controls and soybean trade barriers. It remains uncertain whether Trump will come up with other threats when dealing with China. But for Taiwan, the speculation about the US sacrificing the island nation in return for better ties with China has not materialized. Neither has the US taken concrete steps to impose semiconductor tariffs under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act. Taiwan's manufacturing sector may gain momentum over the next two months if geopolitical and economic conditions remain stable.

Memory shortages are intensifying as major cloud service providers (CSPs) continue expanding capital expenditures, with AI demand increasingly squeezing supply. Industry sources reveal that Samsung Electronics led the move by halting DDR5 DRAM contract pricing in October, prompting other manufacturers to follow suit. This disruption is expected to delay contract price announcements until mid-November, exacerbating supply constraints. Meanwhile, DRAM spot prices have surged sharply, with DDR5 prices more than doubling since late last month, driving procurement costs to soar.