Memory prices have been rising sharply in recent quarters, and the trend is expected to continue for at least the next two years.
DDR5 has already seen price surges, and now older DDR4 and DDR3 modules face significant increases.
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According to a DigiTimes report, memory contract prices are still being finalized, and the situation is worsening.
Supply chain sources indicate that DDR4 8Gb DRAM modules could see a price increase of over 50% in the third quarter of 2026.
Earlier predictions suggested price rises would narrow to 10–20%, but the opposite is happening.
Spot prices for DDR4 16Gb memory are already high, sometimes exceeding DDR5 prices for similar specifications.
Supply Constraints and Demand Shift
DDR4 demand rose significantly in Q2, leading to unexpected price hikes.
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Taiwanese-made DDR4 is priced higher than Samsung's offerings, as Samsung has shifted production to DDR5 and premium memory for AI customers.
Contract prices for DDR4 8Gb continued their strong upward trend in Q3.
Due to severe capacity shortages, Taiwanese manufacturers informed some industry players that DDR4 8Gb prices would increase by 50% in Q3 compared to Q2, breaking previous price ceilings.
Enterprise-grade SSDs with DRAM are also boosting DDR4 demand. Large data centers moving to high-capacity SSDs require more DRAM for lower latency and higher speeds.
Major companies like Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix have largely moved away from DDR4 production.
Samsung produces small volumes for long-term customers, while Micron recently began mass production of DDR4 and LPDDR4 using the 1α process at its Virginia plant.
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Taiwan's Nanya Technology and Winbond Electronics handle most DDR production, but their output is far below global demand.
The crisis that started in DDR5 has now affected legacy DDR3 networks. Prices of 4Gb DDR4 and DDR3 are expected to surge through the second half of 2026.
As of early July 2026, average spot prices are: DDR4 4Gb (512MB x 8) at $12.75, and DDR5 16Gb (2GB x 8) at $47.07.
Per gigabit, DDR3 4Gb costs $3.19, while DDR5 16Gb costs $2.94.
With production capacity already fully utilized, the supply-demand gap will continue to widen.
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Industry experts predict DRAM prices for DDR5, DDR4, and DDR3 will keep rising at least until 2028, suggesting more price hikes ahead.
