Samsung and SK Hynix, among other South Korean memory giants, are also expected to raise NAND prices next month.
Following the announcements from Micron and SanDisk regarding price hikes, new expectations for NAND price increases are emerging one after another.
According to previous announcements from Micron and SanDisk, both companies will implement comprehensive price increases on channel and consumer products starting April 1, with an overall rise of more than 10%, and further adjustments planned for subsequent quarters. Now, this signal of industry recovery may be further amplified. According to sources cited by TrendForce today, South Korean memory giants such as Samsung and SK Hynix are also expected to raise NAND prices next month.
At the same time, NAND Flash controller chip manufacturer Phison recently estimated that the first quarter of 2025 will mark the lowest point for NAND prices throughout the year. With NAND manufacturers increasing prices and the effects of DeepSeek driving AI hardware demand, NAND supply and demand are expected to tighten in the second half of the year, leading to better annual operational performance compared to last year.
Phison CEO K.S. Pua stated in a previous earnings call that due to increased stocking demand and production cuts by major manufacturers, NAND Flash price hikes are already underway, and prices are expected to continue rising in the third quarter.
1. Supply Reduction from Manufacturers Affects Downstream Market
One possible reason for this wave of storage price hikes is the impact of production cuts. Major manufacturers—including Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, Western Digital, and Kioxia—began reducing NAND production as early as Q4 2024. The aggressive price hikes seen in Q2 this year are considered a result of those earlier production cuts.
A high-ranking executive from a domestic storage company recently told a reporter from The STAR Market Daily that several NAND chip manufacturers have already announced production cuts ranging from 15% to 25%. If these plans are carried out, supply will decrease, leading to corresponding price increases.
On March 10, a journalist, posing as an investor, contacted multiple A-share listed storage chip companies.
A representative from leading company GigaDevice stated that memory prices are expected to remain stable throughout the year, with recent NAND price hikes primarily driven by production cuts from major overseas manufacturers like Micron and Samsung, leading to reduced industry supply.
“After cutting low-margin businesses, major overseas manufacturers are now focusing more resources on AI-related subfields, such as DDR5 memory chips and high-end HBM production lines,” the GigaDevice representative explained.
A spokesperson from related manufacturer also confirmed that NAND-based storage products are experiencing price increases, which benefits the overall supply chain.
“Currently, institutions are optimistic about storage price trends in 2025, with expectations of price increases reaching the terminal market, which can be seen as a positive development,” the related manufacturer representative said.
Domestic storage module manufacturers are also gradually adjusting their strategies to cope with the price hike. Citic Securities pointed out that NAND Flash prices are expected to start rising in Q2 2025, while DRAM prices may stabilize and rebound in the second half of the year. Domestic manufacturers, leveraging their low-cost inventories and fast response capabilities, are expected to be the first to benefit from the upward price cycle.
2. AI Expected to Be the Core Driver of the Memory Chip Cycle
Analysts believe that multiple factors—including technological innovation, counter-cyclical investment strategies, shifts in the global memory chip market structure, the boost in memory chip demand driven by AI, and support from the capital market—are collectively driving the rise of domestic memory chip manufacturers. These factors are also expected to push the memory market upward in the second half of this year, ushering in a price increase cycle.
Yongxing Securities stated that price hikes driven by supply constraints, inventory returning to normal levels, and increasing demand for HBM, SRAM, and DDR5 due to AI development are expected to lead the industry to bottom out and rebound.
Analysts from the China Business Industry Research Institute predict that China’s semiconductor memory market will reach 458 billion yuan in 2025. They also noted that memory chip sales have significantly improved in 2024 after inventory reduction, and they expect AI to be the core driving force behind the next upcycle of the memory chip market in 2025.
The combination of AI servers, AI smartphones, and AI PCs is expected to create a synergistic demand surge, accelerating overall demand growth. The demand for NAND from AI servers is particularly noteworthy, with industry analysts estimating that global enterprise SSD bit demand will increase by at least 30% starting in 2025.
A TMT analyst told reporters that after price increases by major manufacturers, it is important to monitor how the downstream market responds.
“Due to differences in inventory levels among customers and distributors, after manufacturers raise prices, distributors may prioritize selling off low-cost inventory first. The key factor remains terminal demand. So far this year, demand recovery in consumer sectors such as PCs and smartphones has been weaker than expected. This is partly due to the longer device replacement cycle for consumers and the lack of breakthrough progress in AI applications at the consumer end. As a result, the consumer storage market remains under pressure,” the analyst explained.
A representative from a listed consumer electronics chip company shared a similar view.
“The outlook for the consumer electronics market is still uncertain. However, if the AI PC, AI glasses, and AI earphone markets truly take off, they could significantly drive additional demand for memory chips. Another aspect to watch is whether DeepSeek can trigger a wave of localized AI adoption and device upgrades,” the representative said.
Since March, several listed storage chip companies—including Yunze Technology Limited, Longsys, BIWIN Storage, Gigadevice, and Montage Technology—have been receiving institutional investor inquiries. While they remain optimistic about demand growth in server and automotive markets in 2025, they are more cautious about the still-developing AI consumer market.
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