DRAM

DDR5 memory prices surge nearly fivefold as AI demand strains global supply

Standard DDR5 memory kits in Germany now cost 4.9 times what they did a year ago, a 486% increase since July 2025, according to research from German price comparison platform Geizhals. Between July and August 2026 alone, memory prices rose…

China’s CXMT expands into mobile DRAM, narrows yield gap with Samsung

China's largest DRAM maker, Changxin Memory Technologies (CXMT), is broadening its competitive front against Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, moving beyond PC memory into the mobile DRAM market while reportedly achieving manufacturing yields that approach those of the global leader.

Apple eyes $100 iPhone price hike amid DRAM shortage

Apple is scaling back its 2026 hardware shipment plans as a worsening global DRAM shortage squeezes production across its lineup, while mounting evidence points to price increases on the iPhone for the first time since the memory crisis began.

CXMT hits 90% yield on DDR5 chips despite U.S. sanctions

Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies has reportedly achieved a 90% yield rate on its 17-nanometer DDR5 chips, a milestone that marks the company's transition from an emerging domestic supplier to a potential volume competitor in the global DRAM market.

Nvidia GPU prices spike up to 36% as memory shortage hammers PC market

The 2026 hardware market is buckling under the weight of memory price inflation, driven by insatiable demand from AI data centers. From enterprise AI racks costing nearly $8 million to consumer graphics cards selling far above their suggested retail prices,…

CXMT rejects Apple’s bid for cheaper memory chips

Apple has been testing memory chips from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies across product lines including iPhones and MacBooks, as a global DRAM shortage driven by surging AI demand threatens production of its upcoming iPhone 18 Pro lineup, according to a…

iPhone 18 Pro production costs to jump 38%, TrendForce says

Apple faces a dramatic increase in manufacturing costs for its upcoming iPhone 18 Pro, with new research from TrendForce estimating that the bill of materials for the 256GB model will rise approximately 38% year-over-year, driven primarily by surging memory prices.

DRAM makers hold $38B in prepayments as 5-year deals reshape chip industry

Global memory chip makers are locking customers into multi-year supply agreements at an unprecedented scale, fundamentally reshaping an industry long defined by volatile boom-and-bust cycles. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron collectively hold an estimated $38 billion in advance payments…

DRAM shortage leaves $1B in Apple chips idle ahead of iPhone 18 Pro launch

Apple has rolled out a leasing program for iPhones and other hardware, offering consumers a subscription-style alternative to outright purchases as an AI-driven memory chip shortage pushes electronics prices higher across the industry.

HP, Asus, Acer adopt Chinese DRAM as memory shortage grips PC market

A deepening global memory shortage driven by insatiable AI demand is forcing PC makers to downgrade products and seek alternative suppliers, opening the door for Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies to make inroads into Western supply chains.

J.P. Morgan estimates DRAM prices up over 400% since 2024 amid AI boom

Amazon Amazon.com, Inc. CEO Andy Jassy told investors on the company's second-quarter earnings call on July 30 that capital expenditures for 2026 will reach approximately $220 billion, up $20 billion from prior guidance, with the increase driven by surging memory…

Huawei warns rising memory costs may force smartphone price hikes

Richard Yu, Chairman of Huawei's Consumer Business Unit, warned on August 5 that surging memory chip prices could force widespread smartphone price increases across the industry. Speaking at Huawei's August 2026 New Product Launch Event, Yu said that continuing to…

DRAM shortage strands $1B in Apple chips at TSMC

A global DRAM supply crunch has left approximately $1 billion worth of Apple processor wafers stranded at TSMC Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, unable to complete final packaging due to insufficient memory supply, according to multiple reports this week.

Gigabyte hikes GPU prices up to 40% as DRAM crisis deepens

GIGABYTE has raised prices on its graphics cards by 20% to 40%, according to Tom's Hardware, which reported on August 4 that a Japanese distributor warned of the new increases taking effect this month. The hikes have forced at least…

Apple hit with trio of analyst downgrades over memory costs

Apple shares faced a wave of analyst downgrades on Tuesday as Wall Street firms warned that rising memory chip prices will continue to erode the company's profit margins despite strong product demand.

CXMT eyes second Beijing DRAM fab as capacity could double

China's largest DRAM maker, ChangXin Memory Technologies, is in early-stage talks to build a second 12-inch wafer fabrication plant in Beijing's Yizhuang district, a move that could more than double the company's production capacity and deepen its challenge to the…

DRAM shortage forces Nvidia to weigh scaling back next-gen chip specs

Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip manufacturer responsible for roughly a third of global supply, warned last week that the ongoing DRAM shortage will intensify in 2027 and remain tight through at least 2028, even as the crisis continues…

HP, Asus and Acer begin using Chinese memory chips amid global DRAM shortage

Major PC manufacturers HP, Asus and Acer have begun using small volumes of DRAM chips from China's ChangXin Memory Technologies in their laptops, marking a notable shift in semiconductor sourcing as an AI-driven global memory shortage squeezes supply and pushes…

China’s CXMT briefly tops $590B, becoming most valuable A-share stock

ChangXin Memory Technologies, China's largest DRAM manufacturer, briefly surpassed a market capitalization of 4 trillion yuan (approximately $592 billion) on Friday, cementing its position as the most valuable company on China's A-share market just days after its blockbuster debut on…

Micron surges after steep losses from CXMT’s record IPO

ChangXin Memory Technologies, China's largest DRAM manufacturer, surged 466% on its Shanghai STAR Market debut on July 27, triggering a broad selloff across the global memory chip sector that has dragged down shares of Micron Technology, SanDisk, and Western Digital…

Nvidia raises GPU prices up to 30% in third hike of 2026

Nvidia is raising prices on its GeForce RTX graphics cards by 20 to 30 percent, marking the third consumer GPU price increase the company has implemented since January, according to Taiwan's Economic Daily News. Unlike a previous hike in May…

MSCI adds CXMT to China index after record Shanghai debut

MSCI announced on Tuesday that it will add CXMT Corporation to the MSCI China All Shares Index effective August 10, days after the Chinese memory chipmaker's record-breaking Shanghai listing sent its market value soaring past every other publicly traded company…

Samsung expands DRAM production to keep Apple from turning to Chinese suppliers

Samsung Electronics is building a new end-fab facility at its Hwaseong campus in South Korea and consolidating scattered operations to raise commodity DRAM production capacity by roughly 15% before the end of 2026, a move driven largely by surging demand…

CXMT surges 466% in Shanghai debut, sparking global memory stock selloff

Chinese memory chipmaker CXMT Corp surged more than 460% in its Shanghai debut on Monday, catapulting to the top of China's stock market by valuation — but the blockbuster listing sent shockwaves through global memory stocks, with SanDisk plunging over…

CXMT founder pledges $5.6B to employees after stock surges on debut

ChangXin Memory Technologies made its long-awaited debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday, surging 466% on its first day of trading and minting billions for founder and chairman Zhu Yiming — much of which he has promised to give…

CXMT signs $7B ByteDance deal ahead of Shanghai IPO

ChangXin Memory Technologies, China's largest DRAM manufacturer, has signed a five-year supply agreement with ByteDance worth more than $7 billion, according to a Reuters investigation published Thursday. The deal cements CXMT's transformation from a low-cost alternative into a supplier capable…

SK Hynix scouts U.S. factory sites to fight ‘chipflation’

Even as memory chip makers enjoy record profits and a historic supply shortage, Wall Street is growing uneasy about what comes next. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are all pursuing massive capacity expansions simultaneously, raising the specter of an oversupply…

Morgan Stanley warns AI’s biggest bottleneck is now memory, not compute

The AI industry's next bottleneck is not about processing speed — it is about memory. Morgan Stanley published a sweeping report this week arguing that the central constraint in artificial intelligence is migrating from a "compute wall" to a "memory…

Powerchip raises DRAM prices 45% amid deepening shortage

Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp announced this month that it is hiking DRAM prices by 45%, warning that the structural supply shortage driving the increase could persist into 2027 and that further price increases remain possible. The company also raised…

SK Hynix retreats after 27% surge in volatile Nasdaq debut week

SK Hynix shares soared as much as 27% on Tuesday on the Nasdaq in only the stock's third full trading session, as investors rushed into the memory chipmaker's newly listed American depositary receipts following softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data and a…