"Q2 DRAM Prices Rise 13-18%... Adjusted Upward Reflecting AI Forecasts"

NAND Price Increase Rate in Q2 is 15-20%

Market research firm TrendForce raised its forecast for DRAM price increases in the second quarter to 13-18%, revising upward its previous projection.

On the 7th, TrendForce stated, "Reflecting considerations related to supply and demand forecasts in the artificial intelligence (AI) market, we have raised the fixed transaction price (contract price) increase rates for both DRAM and NAND flash in the second quarter."

Previously, TrendForce had expected second-quarter DRAM prices to rise 3-8% compared to the previous quarter, a slower increase than the first quarter (up to 20%), citing the lack of recovery in demand from traditional applications such as laptops and smartphones besides AI.

However, as demand exceeded market expectations, the company revised the second-quarter price increase rate to 13-18%. TrendForce explained that the market perception is spreading that DRAM suppliers are focusing on producing High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), which may limit the supply of general DRAM, leading to increased DRAM purchases on the demand side in the second quarter.

TrendForce also expects the second-quarter NAND price increase rate to be 15-20%, higher than the previous forecast of 13-18%. They noted that demand for enterprise solid-state drives (eSSD), a NAND-based data storage device, is increasing, and that memory industry investment in NAND remains conservative.

TrendForce stated, "As energy efficiency becomes important for inference AI servers, North American cloud service providers (CSPs) are choosing Quad-Level Cell (QLC) eSSD as their storage solution," adding, "With increasing related demand, some suppliers are hesitant to sell due to rapid inventory depletion."