DRAM prices plateau, but shortages could persist

Memory sticks and SSDs have jumped about fourfold in less than six months as AI continues to consume vast amounts of DRAM and storage. Analysis by 3DCenter, covering DDR4 and DDR5 desktop and mobile DIMMs and internal SSDs, finds DDR5 prices just over 400% higher than in July 2025 but largely unchanged in the past month, with variation by capacity and speed.

That suggests the market may have reached a temporary equilibrium where supply is only quite meeting demand. IT Home notes a modest correction in DDR4, a 10–20% drop from its 2025 peak, as spot memory prices cooled and speculative buying eased. Major suppliers have warned shortages will last: Micron expects shortages beyond 2026, and Phison's CEO has suggested they could run to 2030 or later.

Even if Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron doubled output overnight, the current AI appetite would still outstrip production — Nvidia's Vera-Rubin "superchip" uses 576 GB of HBM4, a full NV72 rack holds 20.7 TB, and data centres can house thousands of such processors.

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