SanDisk's (SNDK.US) enterprise flash memory chip prices double, stock price soars by 13% in a single day, sparking a surge in the storage sector.

According to Nomura Securities, SanDisk (SNDK.US) is expected to see strong demand for server-level storage in the coming quarters, which could lead to a doubling in price for high-capacity 3D NAND storage chips used in enterprise solid-state drives this quarter. On Friday, SanDisk's stock price surged by 13%, while other storage product manufacturers also saw their stock prices soar. Micron Technology, Inc. (MU.US) rose by 5.5%, Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (STX.US) surged by nearly 7%, and Western Digital Corporation (WDC.US) climbed by around 7%. The report also stated that it is currently unclear to what extent the price increase for high-capacity 3D NAND will affect mainstream flash memory prices for consumer devices. Analysts pointed out, "Channel surveys show that many storage suppliers are continuing to push for price increases, with enterprise-grade NAND seeing particularly aggressive spikes. It is reported that SanDisk NAND chips used in enterprise SSDs may have seen a price increase of over 100% compared to the previous quarter in March." SanDisk did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The report stated that Nomura Securities believes that storage suppliers are planning to raise prices for enterprise-level 3D NAND, both due to short-term supply shortages and based on expectations of mid-term demand growth - a trend driven by artificial intelligence, particularly the evolution of AI storage architectures. The report mentioned that NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US) has listed its Inference Context Memory Storage Platform (ICMSP) based on the BlueField-4 DPU, equipped with a 512GB SSD and KV cache, as one of the key drivers of enterprise storage demand this year. Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Samsung Electronics (SSNLF) and SK Hynix are planning to raise server memory prices by as much as 70% in the first quarter, as the surge in AI demand is challenging the global supply chain landscape.