Seoul, Beijing, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Fort Collins, Hong Kong, London, New Delhi, Taipei, Tokyo – Feb 5: Memory prices have risen by 80%-90% QoQ in Q1 2026 so far, according to the February issue of Counterpoint’s Memory Price Tracker, marking an unprecedented and record-breaking surge. The primary driver of this rise is the sharp price increase in general-purpose server DRAM. Furthermore, NAND, which was relatively quiet in Q4, is also seeing a parallel jump of 80%-90% in the first quarter. Combined with the rising prices of some HBM3e products, the market is witnessing a full-throttle upward trend across all segments.
In server-grade memory, for instance, the price of 64GB RDIMM has surged from a fixed contract price of $450 in the fourth quarter to over $900 in the first quarter, and it appears likely to surpass the $1,000 mark in the second quarter.
Senior Analyst Jeongku Choi emphasized, “For device manufacturers, this is a double whammy – rising component costs and weakened consumer purchasing power will likely slow the demand as the quarter progresses. This calls for OEMs to change procurement patterns or focus on premium models to justify the higher price by delivering more value to consumers.”
Smartphone manufacturers are reducing the DRAM content or substituting TLC SSDs with more cost-effective QLC alternatives. Simultaneously, there is a clear trend of declining orders for LPDDR4, which is currently in short supply, and increasing orders for LPDDR5, supported by the rollout of new entry-level chipsets that are compatible with the latest DRAM standard.
Choi further noted, “The memory profitability is expected to reach unprecedented levels. DRAM operating margins have already reached the 60% range in Q4 2025, marking the first time margins for general-purpose DRAM have surpassed those of HBM. The first quarter of 2026 is set to be the period where DRAM margins exceed their historical peaks for the first time. Having said that, this will either set a new normal or a very high bar which looks solid now but could make the next down cycle (if there is one) look uglier.”