Samsung's 20% Quarterly NAND Price Surge

South Korea's Samsung Electronics, a global leader in storage chip manufacturing, has initiated a robust price adjustment strategy for NAND Flash memory. The company anticipates quarterly price increases of 20% through the second quarter of 2024, marking a considerable deviation from industry expectations.

Multiple industry insiders have revealed that, following a 10% to 20% price adjustment in NAND chips this quarter, Samsung has resolved to incrementally raise prices by 20% in both the first and second quarters of the following year. This strategic maneuver is designed to stabilize NAND chip prices and reverse the prevailing market trend in the first half of the upcoming year.

In earlier reports, market research firm TrendForce highlighted the upward trajectory of NAND chip prices since August. They also anticipate an increase of approximately 5% to 10% in enterprise-level solid-state drive contract prices for the fourth quarter. With suppliers adopting a more resolute stance during negotiations, end-user solid-state drive products are expected to experience synchronous price increments, with contract prices projected to rise by 8% to 13% during the fourth quarter.

Samsung, as a global industry leader, is now significantly driving up NAND chip prices by as much as 20%. This surge is expected to persist until the second quarter of the following year, greatly exceeding industry predictions.

Notably, NAND chips and DRAM jointly contribute to roughly half of Samsung's storage chip sales. Simultaneously, Samsung is proactively reducing production to manage market supply, improve market dynamics, and enhance its profitability. During a public earnings conference on October 31st, Samsung's Executive Vice President, Kim Jae-joon, affirmed, "Samsung's forthcoming production reduction measures will surpass the current scale of DRAM reduction."

Market analysts predict that, given the synergy of reduced production and escalating prices, Samsung's operations are poised for a substantial upturn, commencing in the fourth quarter of the present year. DB Financial Investment analyst Xu Shengyan (phonetically translated) commented, "Anticipated growth in demand during the fourth quarter, encompassing DRAM, is expected to significantly enhance the performance of the semiconductor industry."