National Development and Reform Commission Price Monitoring Center: Storage chip prices continue to rise and are being transmitted downstream.

On February 28th, the National Development and Reform Commission's Price Monitoring Center issued a document stating that since September 2025, due to factors such as explosive growth in demand and cliff-like shortage of production capacity, the global storage market gap has expanded. Storage chip prices have been continuously rising, with the rate of increase showing a trend of expansion in the past month. It is recommended to pay attention to the impact of storage chips on downstream prices. 1. Recent significant and rapid increase in storage chip prices Research shows that as of January this year, prices of the two main products in storage chips, DRAM and NAND flash memory, have reached their highest levels since data was available in 2016. For example, the average contract price for mainstream model DARM (DDR4 8Gb 1G*8) in January was $11.5, an increase of about 24% from the previous month and about 83% from September 2025. The average contract price for NAND flash memory (128Gb 16G*8 MLC) was $9.5, an increase of about 65% from the previous month and nearly 1.5 times from September 2025. The reasons for the price increase include explosive growth in demand, cliff-like shortage of production capacity, and downstream panic buying. Firstly, the growth in AI computing power has led to an increase in demand for high-end storage. Secondly, the production strategies of storage giants combined with rigid constraints of production cycles have exacerbated supply shortages in the market. Thirdly, the increase in prices of raw materials such as silicon wafers, tungsten hexafluoride, and metals have provided some support from the cost side. 2. Transmission of higher storage chip prices to downstream markets Currently, storage chips are in an upward cycle in terms of prices. Looking ahead, with the continuous growth in demand for AI server computing power, the global storage chip market will continue to be in short supply, leading to a further increase in prices. The price increase of storage chips will gradually be transmitted to consumer electronics products. As AI applications become more prevalent, consumer preference for high-end and smart consumer electronics products is increasing, leading to a trend of consumption upgrades and a higher demand for memory performance. Manufacturers have limited room to alleviate cost pressures through cost reduction, and raising prices for end products will become a common trend. Due to the impact of rising storage chip prices and their transmission to downstream markets, prices of computer, communication, and other electronic equipment manufacturing sub-items are expected to stabilize, reducing their drag on the Producer Price Index (PPI). As for the Consumer Price Index (CPI), with the continued effects of stimulating consumption policies, prices in the communication sector are expected to continue to rise. This article is excerpted from the "Price Monitoring Center of the National Development and Reform Commission," edited by Wang Qiujia for GMTEight.