As original manufacturers continue to push prices higher in the third quarter, server DDR5 memory prices have risen by 15% to 23% this month. Prices for 32GB, 64GB, and 96GB DDR5 RDIMMs have reached $900, $1,590, and $2,650, respectively. In the spot server RDIMM market, trading prices for 32GB DDR5 range from $1,800 to $2,100, 64GB DDR5 from $3,000 to $3,200, and 96GB DDR5 from $3,800 to $4,100. The price gap between contract and spot DDR5, especially for 96GB modules, is narrowing. Original manufacturers' DDR5 supply remains in a state of shortage; however, as contract prices rise quarter by quarter, major server clients have become increasingly sensitive to memory costs. Coupled with the signing of long-term agreements that have secured a certain level of DDR5 supply for these major clients, the price increase for DDR5 is expected to moderate.
On the upstream resource front, Flash Wafer and DDR prices remained unchanged this week.
Because some original manufacturers are prioritizing the allocation of more NAND capacity to the server market in the second half of the year, channel SSDs are experiencing structural supply shortages. Memory manufacturers are currently testing alternative new resources based on cost considerations, but overall, channel SSD prices remain relatively stable. This week, prices for channel SSDs and memory modules remained flat.
As original manufacturers actively promote the validation and adoption of QLC cSSDs in PC OEMs, the application of QLC in PC terminals is expanding. SSDs produced using these new QLC resources are receiving price incentives from original manufacturers, giving them a competitive pricing advantage. Leading PC OEMs, which are still within the original manufacturers' supply scope, are also using this as a benchmark for their procurement pricing. Furthermore, preliminary Q3 contract quotes for PC NAND from certain original manufacturers show that price increases are significantly milder than in Q2 and below market expectations. This has led to market noise that is shaking the purchasing willingness of industry clients, with some small and medium-sized clients gradually lowering their target prices, resulting in a continuous price tug-of-war between buyers and sellers.
Although memory manufacturers have slightly reduced prices for 64GB eMMC products since last month, the stimulus to demand has been very limited. Given the generally sluggish market transactions and the lack of active purchasing willingness from buyers, coupled with sustained high resource costs, memory manufacturers are currently unwilling to adjust prices frequently in the short term. As a result, embedded eMMC prices remained basically unchanged this week. However, if manufacturers accelerate shipments later to boost performance and more of them follow suit by cutting prices to stimulate sales, 64GB eMMC prices will continue to drop. At that point, a price inversion may occur between 64GB eMMC and 32GB or smaller embedded eMMC products.
