RAM and SSDs Are Becoming a Luxury: Quarterly Profit Beats the Year, with a 40% Price Hike Ahead

The first quarter of 2026 delivered unusual financial results for the memory market: several major DRAM and NAND producers earned more between January and March than they did in the whole of 2025. Data from the Taiwanese outlet Commercial Times paints a picture of an extreme supply shortage driven by AI demand.

The standout performance came from ADATA, whose net profit surged 17-fold compared to Q1 2025, reaching $3.014 billion, while quarterly revenue hit $8 billion — a record in the company’s 25-year history. Similar profit momentum was seen across other players:

In all five cases, quarterly net profit exceeded the full-year results of 2025. Even Macronix, operating in the lower-margin DRAM segment vacated by giants shifting toward HBM, posted a stronger quarter than the entire previous year. ADATA chairman Chen Libai (Chen Libai) described the situation as a “new reality of long-term shortage.” According to him, Q1 results are only the starting point, as supply of DDR4 and DDR5 continues to tighten due to manufacturing line reallocation, while high-bandwidth memory (HBM) shortages remain severe. Under these conditions, there is no expectation of price or demand relief in the coming months.

Additional pressure on supply comes from a looming labor strike at Samsung facilities, which is estimated to potentially reduce DRAM and NAND output by around 4%. Against this backdrop, manufacturers have already issued notices to partners announcing roughly a 40% increase in contract prices in Q2 — affecting both RAM and flash storage.

Overall, the situation remains unchanged: the AI sector continues to absorb available chip supply, while the consumer market is left facing increasingly expensive components. No meaningful easing is expected at least until the end of the year.

How long are you willing to wait for RAM and SSD prices to normalize, or are you planning an upgrade regardless of cost? Share in the comments.