According to Sigmaintell, the global Memory market is expected to continue its super storage cycle in Q2 2026, with supply shortages persisting throughout the quarter and prices showing significant divergence. AI computing demand is driving capacity allocation, while supply tightness for DRAM and NAND used in consumer electronics remains unresolved.
Sigmaintell forecasts that Memory prices will continue to rise in Q2, but the pace of increase will vary across segments, with some categories seeing a moderation in price gains. Specifically, DRAM prices are exhibiting notable divergence with a gradual slowdown in the uptrend, while NAND prices continue to climb, with supply gaps becoming more pronounced. A detailed analysis of price trends for each product is as follows:
DRAM: Significant Price Divergence, with a Gradual Slowdown in Uptrend DRAM prices are projected to continue rising in Q2 2026. Consumer electronics DRAM contract prices, primarily for LPDDR4X/LPDDR5X, maintain a strong upward trajectory. In the consumer electronics sector, DRAM contract prices for mobile applications continue to show high increases, rising approximately 90% quarter-on-quarter. In contrast, DDR4 contract price increases have moderated compared to Q1, slowing to around 50%.
On the demand side, the "siphoning" effect of strong demand from AI servers remains the core driver of market dynamics, sustaining robust demand for high-bandwidth memory. In the consumer electronics segment, demand shows a polarized trend. Mid-to-high-end products, due to their pursuit of performance and user experience, find it difficult to downgrade storage specifications, resulting in relatively inelastic demand for corresponding DRAM. This limits the ability to alleviate cost pressures through specification reductions. Conversely, the low-end consumer electronics market is highly price-sensitive, where price increases significantly dampen demand, leading to an overall decline in DRAM demand for this segment.
On the supply side, as high-value-added memory products enter mass production, their complex manufacturing processes not only increase production difficulty but also consume wafer capacity more significantly per unit, further squeezing capacity for consumer-grade DRAM. Meanwhile, memory manufacturers' inventories are at historically low levels, with limited capacity for expansion. Capacity allocation prioritizes AI customers, further tightening supply for consumer-grade DRAM.
Overall, DRAM supply-demand shortages remain severe this quarter. While prices continue to rise, the divergence in trends is intensifying. Price increases for DDR categories are beginning to narrow first, while LPDDR categories maintain high levels of catch-up growth.
NAND: Continued Price Increases with Widening Supply Gap Sigmaintell expects NAND flash prices to continue their previous upward trend in Q2 2026, rising sharply with a significantly expanding supply gap. Specifically, NAND prices for mobile applications are projected to increase approximately 100% quarter-on-quarter, while consumer-grade SSD prices are expected to rise about 54% quarter-on-quarter.
On the demand side, against the backdrop of rapid growth in AI computing demand, high-value-added NAND products are prioritized in capacity allocation, with order growth showing no signs of slowing, further tightening the consumer-grade NAND market. From the consumer perspective, the trend toward larger storage configurations continues to deepen. Mid-to-high-end products exhibit strong, inelastic demand for NAND, making configuration downgrades difficult and further solidifying consumer demand. Additionally, some consumer-grade NAND products share manufacturing processes with AI products, leading to more pronounced supply gaps across the product line.
On the supply side, leading memory manufacturers prioritize allocating advanced process capacity to AI products, significantly crowding out capacity for consumer electronics NAND. Currently, major manufacturers are operating at full capacity utilization, making it difficult to quickly release additional capacity in the short term, ensuring that tight supply conditions will persist.
Sigmaintell believes that, in the short term, the structural capacity shift driven by AI demand is unlikely to reverse quickly. The supply-demand gap for NAND used in consumer electronics terminals is not expected to see substantial relief, leading to continued strong price increases this quarter.