According to the announcement of market research company Counterpoint Research, memory chip prices are expected to increase by 30% in the fourth quarter of this year and increase by 20% in 2026, after an increase of 50% this year.
Higher costs reflect rapid changes in the strategies of big mind chip manufacturers, as they focus more on providing large-capacity storage products to businesses participating in artificial intelligence (AI) projects and businesses operating data centers.
That leads to limited supply of common memory products for consumer electronics.
For example, LPDDR4 chips are scarce. These synchronous dynamic random access memory products, designed for high-speed performance with low power consumption, are widely used in some servers and smartphones.
According to Counterpoint, this price is expected to increase sharply when US semiconductor giant Nvidia begins to use LPDDR4 chips in its AI server to reduce power consumption.
According to the South China Morning Post, a Shenzhen-based import chip dealer said that high demand for DDR4 and LPDDR4 chips has led to a shortage of supply and rising prices in China.
Average consumers are starting to get affected as major technology companies buy more memory chips to build AI infrastructure, while smartphone manufacturers are rushing to buy these chips at higher prices.
According to Counterpoint, the shortage of memory chips has caused the cost of materials for some smartphone models to increase by 15%. The company expects this supply shortage to affect the entire consumer electronics ecosystem.
The increase in memory prices has been reflected in new handsets launched in the fourth quarter, such as Xiaomi's Redmi K90. To overcome the rising price of memory chips, Xiaomi is looking to optimize the structure of smartphone lines and may increase the average selling price of some other products.
Other product lines from Apple, Samsung... are also expected to increase prices next year, as some large semiconductor companies such as TSMC plan to increase chip production prices in the coming time.
