Phison Electronics CEO Khein-Seng Pua announced a sharp jump in NAND memory prices. According to him, the cost of chips has increased by about 50% in just one night, and the situation in the memory market remains tense.
The main reason for the price increase is the rapid demand from the artificial intelligence industry. Companies working with large AI infrastructures, as well as cloud providers, are actively purchasing storage devices, which increases pressure on supply chains. As a result, corporate SSDs have already provided about 30% of Phison's revenue in the first quarter of 2026.
Despite high demand and revenue growth, the memory controller manufacturer continues to face supply problems. The company has already entered into long-term agreements with two DRAM suppliers and six NAND suppliers, but is also negotiating prepayment for supplies in order to gain priority access to components in the event of a further deterioration in the shortage.
The situation in the market has led to a significant increase in the company's inventories. Phison's inventory increased from 35.6 billion to 50 billion new Taiwan dollars between the end of 2025 and the end of February 2026. However, Pua stressed that even with such an increase in resources, the company does not have enough.
Our current problem is that there is still not enough money and inventory.