In 2025, the memory chip market underwent two significant rounds of price escalations. In April, NAND Flash prices took the lead in climbing, with SanDisk announcing a price hike exceeding 10% for its consumer NAND products. By September, the price surge was in full swing, as industry behemoths like Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix joined the fray. Samsung raised prices on certain DRAM products by 15% to 30%, while NAND flash memory prices saw a 5% to 10% increase. Micron went a step further, halting all product quotations and informing customers of impending price hikes ranging from 20% to 30%. In November, SanDisk once again implemented a substantial increase in the contract prices of NAND flash memory, with some prices soaring by as much as 50%.

The ripple effect of these price hikes has been profound, leading multiple mobile phone manufacturers to suspend their memory chip procurement for the current quarter. Many manufacturers find themselves with inventory levels of less than two months, with DRAM inventories dipping below three weeks. Faced with the daunting prospect of accepting a nearly 50% price hike quoted by original manufacturers, they are hesitating. Typically, mobile phone manufacturers maintain a stocking cycle of around three months. However, at present, DRAM inventory levels across the board are just over one month, while NAND inventory levels hover around two months. The ramifications of these memory chip price hikes are evident in the market, with mid-to-high-end mobile phones generally experiencing price increases of 100 to 500 yuan. Some mobile phone manufacturers have even been forced to halt projects due to the prohibitively high costs.