The global DRAM market is experiencing an unprecedented surge, driven by overwhelming demand from the AI industry. According to a report from CTEE, DRAM contract prices have soared 171.8% year-over-year as of Q3 2025, outpacing even the recent meteoric rise in gold prices.
ADATA chairman Chen Libai predicts that Q4 2025 will mark the beginning of a major DRAM bull market, warning that 2026 could bring severe memory shortages as supply struggles to keep up with the AI boom.
This dramatic rise has been steadily increasing throughout the year. In September 2025, NAND and DRAM contract prices had already begun to climb by 15–20%, followed by a 30–50% increase in Q4 2025 — far exceeding initial market expectations. Together, these increases have compounded into the staggering 171.8% year-over-year spike the industry is seeing today.
While server-grade RDIMM and HBM memory are currently in the highest demand for AI servers, the ripple effects have spread across the entire memory sector, including DDR5 used in consumer desktops. Manufacturers have begun shifting production toward datacenter-oriented memory, resulting in fewer DDR5 units being produced and pushing consumer prices sharply upward.
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For example, on Newegg, a Corsair Vengeance RGB 2x16GB 6000MT/s DDR5 kit now retails for $183, compared to just $91 in July 2025, according to PCPartPicker’s pricing history — a price increase of nearly 100% within four months.
The memory market turmoil doesn’t stop with DRAM. NAND flash and even hard drive prices are also rising due to soaring demand for AI servers. Analysts believe this upward trend will persist for at least the next four years, as major tech firms have already locked in long-term DRAM supply contracts with Samsung and SK Hynix.
If the current trend continues, both consumers and manufacturers may face one of the most volatile and expensive memory markets in recent history.
