Samsung Electronics is preparing to increase the supply prices of mobile DRAM and NAND flash memory for smartphone manufacturers in the upcoming quarterly negotiations. This decision follows shifts in global semiconductor production capacity and market supply dynamics.
The primary driver for the price hike is the reallocation of wafer production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and high-density enterprise storage. These products are in high demand for AI model training and inference infrastructure, which limits the output available for consumer mobile memory (LPDDR) and standard NAND flash.
Simultaneously, the integration of on-device AI in new smartphones has increased hardware requirements. Major brands are now setting base memory capacities at 12GB or 16GB, leading to higher per-device procurement volumes for high-performance memory components.
As DRAM and NAND flash represent a significant portion of the bill of materials (BOM) for smartphones, these price increases will impact the profit margins of mobile device manufacturers. Companies may need to adjust retail prices or optimize other hardware specifications to manage rising costs.
