The global NAND flash market is experiencing a supply reduction and price surge, with eight major manufacturers—including Samsung, SK Hynix, Kioxia, and Micron—simultaneously cutting production. Combined with their transition to QLC technology for AI-driven demand, NAND prices have entered a sharp upward trend, with potential increases exceeding 50%.
Price hikes are already underway. After prolonged cost pressure, leading suppliers are raising prices
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Samsung plans to increase prices by 20%-30% in negotiations for 2026 supply.
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SanDisk has already raised contract prices by up to 50% this month.
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North American tech firms have begun panic buying, with some analysts warning that 2026 NAND supply may already be fully booked.
Production cuts are intensifying
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Samsung’s NAND wafer output fell 7% to 4.72 million wafers.
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SK Hynix reduced output by 10% to 1.8 million wafers.
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Micron’s largest Singapore fab continues operating at a low 300,000-wafer capacity.
Prices are rising rapidly
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The average selling price of NAND increased 15% last quarter.
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Spot prices for 512Gb TLC NAND wafers jumped 14.2% in a week to $5.51, with a cumulative increase of over 60% since September.
The shift to QLC technology—which stores 4 bits per cell and boosts capacity by 30%—is accelerating to meet AI data center demand. This transition has idled some TLC production lines, further tightening supply and reinforcing the "production cut-price surge" cycle.
ICgoodFind :The NAND price surge is reshaping the memory market, with enterprise and AI-driven storage emerging as key growth drivers.
