In mid-March, Samsung released its 2Q26 quotes ahead of schedule, with price hikes far exceeding market expectations. TrendForce believes this move is primarily aimed at accelerating downward revisions in the consumer end-market to free up production capacity for high-margin and strategic products. The recent softening of spot prices reflects the inability of consumer products to absorb these high costs, resulting in cutbacks to production plans and channel sell-offs to clear inventory. However, the overall reality of the memory supply shortage remains unchanged.

Key Highlights

• Samsung has taken the lead in anchoring prices for 2Q26; while the price trend for 2H26 is expected to moderate, upside risks remain.
• Aggressive price hikes have forced consumer end-markets, such as smartphones and notebooks, to accelerate the downward revision of their production plans, prompting suppliers to further adjust their product mix.
• The underlying logic of the memory market has deviated from traditional pricing models, which typically rely on supply fulfillment rates and historical price peaks.
• The recent softening of spot market prices is primarily due to excessive premiums on consumer-grade memory, which has led consumer electronics brands to downwardly revise their production plans.
• Bolstered by AI demand, memory prices will maintain their upward momentum, with supplier capacity continuing to shift toward server applications. Amid prolonged supply constraints and firm contract prices, the consumer electronics sector will continue to face the pressure of soaring costs and steep downward revisions in production.

Table of Contents

1. Updates on Mobile DRAM Contract Market
   • Sufficiency Ratios vs. Price Changes in Mobile DRAM Segment
2. Updates on Smartphone Market

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