Micron Halts DRAM Quotes, Prices May Rise 30%

According to Taiwan's Economic Daily, Micron, the world's third-largest memory chipmaker, has temporarily suspended price quotes for its customers, with upcoming price hikes expected between 20% and 30%.

Industry sources reveal that Micron has halted quotes for a full range of memory products including DDR4, DDR5, LPDDR4, and LPDDR5, with the suspension set to last about a week. Prices are projected to be adjusted upward once quoting resumes. The increase follows SanDisk's recent 10% price adjustment on NAND Flash, marking another wave of hikes across the memory sector.

Notably, the price surge will not be limited to consumer and industrial memory but is expected to hit automotive memory products the hardest, with some reports suggesting jumps of up to 70%. Insiders explain that Micron's decision was driven by its executives observing customer demand forecasts (FCST) pointing to significant supply shortages.

Experts note that the move reflects structural shifts in the storage market, fueled by the rise of inference-based AI services and the expansion of cloud service providers like Google and Oracle. As these companies aggressively build out AI infrastructure, demand for high-capacity memory and storage has surged.

With lead times for large-capacity HDDs stretching to nearly a year, the industry is also pushing development of Nearline SSDs, aiming to narrow the price gap with HDDs from 4–5x to about 3x to boost adoption.

Meanwhile, as Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron ramp up DDR5 and HBM production, DDR4 capacity is gradually being phased out. Yet, demand remains strong for DDR4 in cost-sensitive devices such as entry-level smartphones, set-top boxes, automotive, and industrial systems. This has allowed Taiwanese firms like Nanya Technology and Winbond Electronics to seize the opportunity.

Nanya has already seen contract prices rise by 70% in Q3 and another 50% expected in Q4, while Winbond reported Q3 price hikes of 60% and projections of 80–90% in Q4 compared to earlier lows. Though spot prices have stabilized after sharp gains in Q3, contract prices remain on an upward trajectory.

Financial data shows Nanya's August revenue reached NT$6.763 billion, up 26% month-on-month and 141% year-on-year, hitting a 43-month high. Cumulative revenue for the first eight months of the year climbed nearly 20% to NT$29.829 billion. The company expects both prices and sales volumes to grow in Q3, with confidence that its profit margins will turn positive.