According to the latest memory pricing survey from TrendForce, server DRAM contract prices are projected to rise by 13-18% quarter-over-quarter in the third quarter. This increase is attributed to certain suppliers pushing through price hikes earlier in the second quarter of 2026, and the fact that several major US-based cloud service providers (CSPs) have already signed multi-year long-term agreements (LTAs), limiting suppliers' ability to raise prices for those specific clients.
Nevertheless, as the supply-demand imbalance persists, there remains a possibility for further upward price revisions from various suppliers in the near future.
TrendForce notes that due to CPU shortages affecting server assembly schedules, DRAM inventory levels at US CSPs gradually increased during the second quarter. However, considering that CPU supply is expected to improve from the second half of 2026 into 2027, which will likely expand overall server assembly volumes, and given that a server DRAM supply shortfall is essentially confirmed for 2027, CSPs are generally still actively increasing their demand.
Memory suppliers began communicating their 2027 supply intentions to clients in the latter part of the second quarter. Based on TrendForce's preliminary calculations, the combined annual bit supply growth for RDIMMs from suppliers is only about 15-20%, which will significantly lag behind the growth in server CPU unit shipments.
For RDIMM buyers, even with secured consumption volumes for the second half of 2026, there is a strong incentive to build inventory in anticipation of the tighter supply conditions expected in 2027.
In the context where some CSPs have already secured LTAs with suppliers, TrendForce's analysis indicates that starting from the third quarter of 2026, the primary source for price increases on server DRAM shipments will increasingly shift to non-contract clients. Price hikes will also apply to any additional supply provided to LTA clients on a non-contract basis.
It is expected that overall server DRAM contract prices will maintain a sequential quarterly increase from the second half of 2026 through the second half of 2027, although the magnitude of the increases is likely to moderate.
Observing the supply mix across different server module capacities, which reflects both procurement cost control and CPU supply matching, there has been a shift since the first half of 2026. Both CSPs and OEMs have been adjusting their RDIMM demand mix, with some moving from 96/128GB modules down to 32/64GB modules.
This specification downgrade is anticipated to begin materializing in suppliers' shipment mixes starting in the third quarter. The number of shipped lower-capacity modules is expected to increase quarter-over-quarter, which will help slow the previous decline in the bit shipment share from these modules.