According to South Korean publications The Elec and ETNews, consumer DRAM and SSDs from Samsung have nearly doubled in price over the past two months, and in some cases, tripled. NAND memory is also preparing for a sharp price increase in the first quarter of 2026.
The Elec attributes this growth to Samsung's new strategy, which prioritizes the production of premium-class memory (for servers and corporate needs). Such products typically sell for 40% more compared to consumer solutions due to stricter requirements for reliability, stability, and material composition.
For example, a DDR5 16 GB 5600 (generation 5) module for PCs, which cost around 150,000 won in November, was already selling for over 400,000 won in South Korea by last Friday. Similarly, prices for consumer SSDs and NAND flash have doubled: a Samsung T7 portable drive with 1 TB of storage has increased from approximately 140,000 won to over 280,000 won. Wholesale lots of 1 TB and 2 TB models have reportedly become unavailable.
A similar situation is developing in the NAND market. ETNews writes that Samsung has already secured contracts with key clients at the end of last year with increased prices starting in January. Although the market expected growth of more than 100% in the first quarter of 2026, industry sources indicate that there has been no official announcement yet, but the increase will definitely exceed 50%.
The price increase is not limited to Samsung: SK hynix is raising prices at roughly the same pace. The companies hold the first and second positions in terms of global NAND market share. According to Nomura, SanDisk plans to increase NAND prices by 100% in the new year, and other major suppliers, along with Samsung, expect growth in the range of 50–80% in the first quarter.