SK Hynix recently announced during its October earnings call that the demand for its HBM, DRAM, and NAND capacity has surpassed its supply for the year 2026. On the other hand, Micron has made the strategic decision to exit the consumer memory market in order to focus on serving enterprise and AI customers.
Rising Enterprise Hardware Costs
The shortage in memory supply has led to significant price hikes in enterprise hardware components. Samsung, for example, has increased the price of its 32GB DDR5 modules from $149 to $239, marking a 60% surge. Contract pricing for DDR5 has also seen a spike of over 100%, with prices reaching $19.50 per unit compared to approximately $7 earlier in 2025.
According to Counterpoint Research, DRAM prices have already gone up by around 50% this year and are expected to rise by another 30% in Q4 2025, followed by an additional 20% in early 2026. The firm predicts that the cost of DDR5 64GB RDIMM modules, commonly used in enterprise data centers, could double by the end of 2026 compared to early 2025 prices.
Changing Dynamics in Procurement
The current supply constraints and pricing pressures are reshaping the dynamics of enterprise procurement. The power dynamics are shifting towards hyperscale cloud providers who secure their supply through long-term commitments, capacity reservations, and direct investments in fabrication facilities. This enables them to obtain lower costs and guaranteed availability, leaving mid-market firms to compete for leftover capacity through shorter contracts and spot sourcing.
