According to Korean media citing industry sources, Apple has recently signed a long-term agreement (LTA) for NAND flash memory. While specific details of the agreement, such as the counterparty, volume, and pricing terms, have not yet been disclosed, market speculation points to Kioxia, Apple's major NAND flash supplier, as the likely partner. Some observers speculate that the contract is a three- to five-year long-term agreement with no price ceiling. However, the contract duration and detailed pricing terms have yet to be officially confirmed.

In Q2 2026, driven by AI demand, the global NAND Flash market continued to face a supply shortfall, allowing manufacturers to maintain strong pricing power. This drove a significant increase in average selling prices (ASP), with price growth notably outpacing shipment volume growth. Under the combined effect of rising prices and volumes, NAND Flash revenue for all manufacturers continued to grow QoQ in Q2. According to CFM Analysis, the global NAND Flash market continued to expand in Q2 2026, growing 73.1% QoQ to reach $76.776 billion.

According to industry sources cited by Korea's ChosunBiz, Sthe share of 1c DRAM at SK hynix expanded from around 10% in the first quarter this year to the 13% range in the second quarter. It is forecast to rise to the 24% range in the third quarter and the 34% range in the fourth quarter. In the first quarter of next year, the 1c share is expected to climb into the 35% range, surpassing 1b (33% range) for the first time to become the main process. Furthermore, unlike Samsung, which plans to adopt 1c DRAM starting from HBM4, SK hynix chose a strategy prioritizing mass-production stability with proven 1b DRAM and advanced MR-MUF packaging technology, and first applied 1c DRAM as the core HBM chip starting with HBM4E.

Looking ahead to Q3, manufacturers and select server customers have already locked in upper price limits under long-term agreements, and the room for further price increases outside of long-term contracts is also shrinking quarter by quarter. As a result, DRAM ASPs are expected to continue rising QoQ in Q3, albeit at a slower pace. Meanwhile, with DRAM bit shipments projected to achieve positive growth in Q3, manufacturers' Q3 DRAM revenues are forecast to reach yet another record high.

Micron is reportedly exploring the idea of developing high-endurance NAND Flash modules that would be positioned closer to the GPU. The company is said to be investigating ways to bring NAND Flash closer to handle workloads that don't require the latency and bandwidth of traditional HBM or regular DRAM modules. This architecture, currently referred to as "near-GPU NAND," would serve as a middle ground between density and durability.

The widening gap between compute and memory bandwidth growth means the "memory wall" is not easing — it may in fact intensify further.

According to media reports, Nvidia has informed some of its major customers that it will raise prices on servers equipped with its artificial intelligence chips, including Vera Rubin and Grace Blackwell lines, by more than 15%, citing surging memory chip costs. The exact increase will depend on the chip generation and memory configuration. The price hike is expected to take effect starting early next year.

According to South Korean media reports, South Chungcheong Province announced that the Provincial Urban Planning Committee has completed the necessary deliberations on Samsung Electronics' plan to expand its semiconductor manufacturing facility at the Asan Onyang campus. The expansion project, representing an investment of 6 trillion Korean won, involves constructing a new plant on a 389,825-square-meter site within the Onyang complex to ramp up production of high-performance AI semiconductors such as HBM. The investment is said to be the first of three Mega Projects for South Korea Great Leap Forward. Samsung Electronics plans to begin construction on the new factory next month, though the completion date has not yet been announced.

Among this, the US market was particularly outstanding, generating 84.5648 trillion won ($59.85 billion) in revenue, accounting for a staggering 64.1% of SK Hynix's total sales. Compared to 27.8344 trillion won in the same period last year, revenue from the US market surged by 203.8% in the first half of this year. This historic breakthrough is primarily attributed to the continued supply-demand imbalance in high-bandwidth memory (HBM), commodity DRAM, and NAND flash memory, which has kept product prices on a strong upward trajectory.

According to South Korean media reports, Samsung Electronics has set a target of September this year for the completion of development of its 7th-generation 10-nanometer-class DRAM (1d DRAM), and plans to initiate the production handover process in December, with first mass production expected by the end of next year.

In the first half of this year, Samsung's DS division generated sales of 209.2 trillion won, accounting for 68.5% of the company's total sales of 305.4 trillion won. Furthermore, it contributed an operating profit of 142.9 trillion won, representing a staggering 97.4% of Samsung's total operating profit.

According to South Korean media, driven by the surging demand for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) amid expanding investments in AI infrastructure, Samsung Electronics is planning to relocate part of its back-end operations for legacy memory from its factories in Cheonan and Onyang, Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, to Vietnam. This move aims to refocus its domestic back-end manufacturing capabilities on high-value-added products like HBM.

According to Korean media citing industry sources, although Samsung's initial HBM4 yield during mass production in February of this year briefly fell below 60%, its yield has recently approached 80%, which is about four months ahead of the original year-end target of 80%.

The company approved a total investment of approximately 54 trillion, 35.2 trillion won in Yongin “Y2” fab and 19.1 trillion won in the Cheongju “M17” fab, in a board meeting.

Samsung Electronics showcased its latest AI memory portfolio and technology roadmap at the 2026 Flash Memory Summit (FMS) in Santa Clara, unveiling the industry's first zHBM concept, zNAND‑O concept, and V10 BV‑NAND with over 400 layers, along with a suite of integrated solutions designed to advance future AI infrastructure.