September 2, 2025 /SemiMedia/ — DRAM prices continued to climb for the fourth straight month in July, fueled by shrinking DDR4 supply as major chipmakers shift production toward next-generation products.

Market data showed DDR4 8Gb chips were priced at about $4.28 in bulk transactions, while 4Gb parts traded at around $3.26, both up 4% from June. Suppliers and customers typically set wholesale DRAM prices monthly or quarterly.

Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron have been cutting DDR4 output and reallocating capacity to DDR5 and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI applications. Chinese manufacturers are also preparing to phase out DDR4 production. Apart from a few suppliers such as Taiwan’s Nanya Technology, available DDR4 sources are dwindling, creating a backlog of orders far beyond factory capacity.

Channel dynamics show DDR5 availability remains constrained, while some brands are deliberately raising DDR4 prices. This has pushed up module prices for both DDR4 and DDR5, highlighting the tension between sustained demand for legacy products and limited supply of new-generation memory.

In contrast, the solid-state drive (SSD) market has weakened. Despite expectations of a seasonal boost from back-to-school PC demand, orders have lagged, leading to falling SSD prices and growing bearish sentiment in the sector.