After Sandisk and YMTC, Micron Announces Price Hike!

As the memory chip market continues to rebound, Micron has officially announced a price increase, following similar moves by Sandisk and Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC).

A recently leaked pricing letter sent to industry partners reveals that Micron sees clear signs of recovery across the DRAM and NAND Flash markets, with growth expected in both 2025 and 2026. The company cites increasing demand across various business segments as a key factor behind its decision to adjust pricing.

“The demand for AI-related applications and technologies continues to grow, reflecting heightened interest in our product portfolio, which provides essential functionality for each use case,” Micron stated in the letter. “As a standard practice, our pricing strategy considers the value our products offer, the significant investment required to maintain industry-leading innovation, and the necessary manufacturing capacity to meet market demand. To ensure supply availability and continuity, we encourage long-term demand forecasting and backlog visibility.”

While Micron did not disclose specific price adjustments in the document, it referenced a memo released on March 25 outlining detailed pricing actions across its network.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced that Sandisk planned to implement a price increase exceeding 10% for all market segments starting April 1. The company cited an anticipated supply shortage, coupled with recent tariff changes, as primary drivers behind the adjustment. Similarly, in mid-March, speculation emerged that YMTC would increase retail pricing for its Zhitai brand in April, with a projected price hike exceeding 10%.

According to market research firm TrendForce, the NAND Flash sector faced persistent oversupply challenges in Q1 2025, leading to a 13-18% price decline. However, production cuts from major suppliers such as Samsung and SK Hynix, along with AI-driven demand and smartphone inventory adjustments, are expected to stabilize the supply-demand balance. NAND Flash prices could remain flat or decline slightly by up to 5% in Q2, followed by a projected 10-15% increase in Q3 and an 8-13% rise in Q4.

In the DRAM market, downstream brands are accelerating inventory depletion in response to evolving global trade policies, particularly tariff adjustments. Major PC OEMs have instructed ODMs to increase assembly volumes, which is expected to expedite the clearance of DRAM inventory within the supply chain. To ensure stable supply in the second half of 2025, OEMs with lower inventory levels may increase DRAM procurement in Q2. As a result, conventional DRAM prices are forecasted to stabilize, with a potential decline of up to 5% quarter-over-quarter. Meanwhile, the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) segment is projected to see a 3-8% price increase, driven by the ramp-up of HBM3e 12hi production.

Given these market dynamics, industry players may accelerate procurement ahead of a potential rebound in NAND Flash and DRAM pricing, which could lead to an earlier supply shortage and further upstream price adjustments in Q2.