Server DRAM contract prices continue to rise due to supply deficits and depleted manufacturer inventories. Although premium pricing on high-capacity modules and shifts in processor configurations have led cloud service providers to recalibrate their demand toward low-to-mid capacity options—temporarily halting the growth momentum of large-capacity shipments in the second half—overall server demand remains robust, keeping the market under-supplied.
Driven by strong low-cost laptop sales and active server restocking, supplier inventories remain low, maintaining strong pricing power. PC DRAM contract prices grew significantly in Q2, with the upward trend projected to extend into Q3 and Q4.
Despite continued upward momentum in memory contract prices, smartphone brands are maintaining healthy inventory levels to manage cash flow risks. On the market front, robust AI server demand has prompted Korean and US suppliers to tighten full-year allocations for smartphone clients, leaving consumer supply constraints unlikely to ease in the near term. Korean suppliers' 2Q26 quotes for LPDDR4X, LPDDR5X, and UFS remain sharply elevated, though the pace of price hikes is expected to moderate in 2H26. Elevated costs are eroding brand profitability and pushing up retail prices, with global smartphone production projected to decline over 10% YoY in 2026. Under this pressure, brand strategy divergence is intensifying, and significant shifts in market share are anticipated this year.
The explosion in global AI service demand has triggered a severe supply-demand imbalance in the enterprise SSD market, driving quarterly revenue and contract prices to historic highs. Major suppliers are aggressively adjusting their capacity, shifting resources from consumer-grade to enterprise-grade products, and accelerating the development of next-generation, high-speed storage solutions. Consequently, SSDs are gradually transitioning into a computing-assistive role, and the market is expected to sustain a long-term upward trend.
As AI server platforms advance, power architectures evolve into multi-track systems, and cooling accelerates toward full liquid solutions. Delta and LiteOn capture cloud service provider and new platform demands with diverse, high-power architectures, aggressively expanding localized capacity. AVC and Sunon accelerate into system-level liquid cooling integration, driving growth amid computing upgrades.
Since 2H25, accelerated AI infrastructure buildouts by CSPs have surged HBM demand and crowded out conventional DRAM capacity, pushing the broader DRAM market into shortage. Constrained by annual pricing mechanisms, HBM per-wafer output value and margins fell below DDR5 RDIMM in 1Q26. As 2027 HBM4 supply negotiations launch in 2Q26, TrendForce expects suppliers to push through substantial contract price hikes, reflecting acute supply-demand imbalance and rising next-generation manufacturing costs.
Propelled by substantial contract price increases, 1Q26 Mobile DRAM revenue reached an all-time high, with ASP appreciation serving as the core growth engine. From a supply perspective, vendors are channeling resources toward AI and server applications, resulting in a structurally constrained supply outlook for consumer Mobile DRAM over the long haul. Market concentration has intensified, with Samsung, SK hynix, Micron, and CXMT now dominating the landscape. Notably, CXMT has capitalized on its LPDDR4X supply strength to elevate its revenue contribution, cementing the "Big Four" formation. Meanwhile, Taiwan's Nanya and Winbond have reaped short-term gains by filling the void left by tier-1 players withdrawing from legacy nodes and low-density segments. That said, their overall footprint remains modest, with future trajectory highly dependent on pricing dynamics and the pace of new capacity ramp-ups.
Driven by the expansion of AI inference demand into general servers, memory procurement has surged. With supplier inventories bottoming out and production capacities concentrated on high-margin products, tight supply has fueled soaring contract prices, leading to explosive growth in industry revenue and profits. Meanwhile, Taiwanese manufacturers are focusing on mature nodes to fill market gaps, while major suppliers will gradually expand output through node transitions.
