February 18, 2026 /SemiMedia/ — Winbond Electronics said AI adoption across data centers, enterprise systems and edge devices is creating unprecedented demand for memory, with DDR4 supply now in a severe shortage and pricing expected to rise sharply through the first half of the year.

Pei-Ming Chen, president of Winbond, said DRAM prices are projected to climb 90% to 95% in the current quarter, with a similar increase likely in the second quarter. By late June, market prices could approach four times last year’s levels, driven by tight supply and rising capacity needs from AI workloads.

Chen said the current upswing differs from past memory cycles, describing it as a structural shift fueled by AI infrastructure buildouts. As servers and intelligent devices require higher bandwidth and larger memory capacity, demand is expected to remain elevated until global AI deployments mature.

DDR4 remains the most constrained product, Chen said, adding that the supply gap is “far larger than expected” and unlikely to close soon, even as manufacturers expand output. SLC NAND is also facing tight availability, with price increases outpacing DRAM due to limited capacity.

To support growing demand, Winbond has approved additional capital spending at its Taichung fab to expand NOR and NAND production. The company raised its total investment to about NT$7 billion, with tools scheduled for installation in May, wafer starts in July and volume output beginning in September. The expansion is expected to add roughly 10,000 wafers per month, targeting annual bit growth of 30% to 40%, depending on market conditions.

Winbond is also advancing its Kaohsiung fab, which is planned to enter mass production in 2027. Initial advanced equipment is set to arrive between May and June, focusing on 16-nanometer capacity. Key products will include 8Gb and 16Gb DDR4, along with 8Gb LPDDR4, forming the backbone of the company’s next-generation high-density memory roadmap. Efforts are underway to further improve 16nm yields in the coming quarters.