AI-driven demand pushes memory chip prices higher for Chinese and Korean manufacturers

Chinese memory‑chip producers CXMT and YMTC, once expected to offer low‑cost DDR5 RAM for data‑center AI workloads, are now charging prices that exceed those of Samsung. Reuters reported CXMT’s 64 GB DDR5 server module costs over $1,240, higher than Samsung’s comparable offering, and the firm has resisted Huawei’s request for discounts, even evicting a group of SiCarrier engineers from its R&D campus.

At the same time, South Korea’s memory giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have sealed multi‑year supply agreements with U.S. technology firms worth a combined $950 billion. SK Hynix will provide $750 billion of memory chips to U.S. partners, including Nvidia, while Samsung signed a $200 billion memorandum of understanding with Broadcom to deliver advanced AI‑focused memory and chip‑foundry services. Both deals aim to accelerate AI infrastructure development and reinforce Korea’s position in the global semiconductor market.

These parallel developments show how the AI data‑center boom is tightening the memory market, lifting prices for Chinese suppliers and driving massive, long‑term contracts for Korean manufacturers, with broad implications for AI hardware supply chains worldwide.