Samsung hikes memory chip prices as US tariffs lead to stockpiling

The US recent tariff actions have introduced a lot of uncertainty in global supply chains. Companies are either ramping up production or stockpiling components to hedge against the outcome of these tariffs.

The semiconductor industry also has significant exposure to tariffs, so companies have begun stockpiling memory chips during the 90-day pause. With more orders coming in, Samsung has reportedly hiked up the prices of its DDR4 and DDR5 DRAM products.

DRAM prices had been falling for the past year but the increase demand due to tariff-related stockpiling has led to price increases. Korean media is reporting that Samsung Electronics has confirmed to its customers that prices of its DRAM products have increased.

The price hike varies per customer, but it's believed to be around 20% for DDR4 products and around 5% for DDR5. It's not just Samsung implementing these hikes, DRAM prices are being increased across the entire semiconductor industry.

Oversupply and a decrease in demand had contributed to lower average selling prices for DRAM products last year. The average transaction price fell by almost 21% according to some estimates in the second half of 2024.

Samsung Electronics is the world's largest memory supplier and its price actions dictate the way forward for the industry. The company is reportedly seeing a surge in demand from PC, mobile, and server manufactures who want to buy DRAM chips in advance to prevent any negative fallout from the US tariffs.

Sustained demand will certainly be welcome at Samsung Electronics, as general purpose DRAMs have lagged behind high-bandwidth memory chips in demand over the past year, thereby denting a significant source of revenue for the company.