July 15, 2026 /SemiMedia/ — Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. said it has raised DRAM wafer prices by about 40% to 45% in July as demand from artificial intelligence applications continues to tighten memory supply.

PSMC General Manager Frank Huang said during the company’s earnings conference that both memory and mature-node foundry markets are becoming tighter because of strong AI-related demand.

The company also raised prices for 8-inch and 12-inch mature-node foundry services by about 10% to 15%. PSMC expects the price increases to gradually contribute to revenue and profit from November, with a more visible effect in the fourth quarter.

Huang said AI computing demand continues to expand, and major global cloud service providers have already booked DRAM capacity for the next several years. Recent earnings from major memory makers also show that overall market supply and demand remain healthy, he said.

PSMC expects tight DRAM supply to continue into 2027.

Because wafer manufacturing, shipment and customer settlement require time, the July DRAM price increase will not be fully reflected immediately. The company expects the adjustment to begin supporting financial results from November.

In process technology, PSMC’s internally developed 1X DRAM process entered small-scale production in June. The company is continuing to improve yield and conduct customer qualification.

The 1P process jointly developed with Micron is expected to complete equipment installation in the first quarter of next year, with mass production targeted for mid-2028.

Flash memory is also benefiting from AI demand. PSMC said growth in AI servers and AI edge devices is pushing SLC NAND prices higher, while NOR Flash demand and pricing have improved because of supply structure adjustments.

PSMC’s monthly NOR Flash wafer starts have exceeded 10,000 wafers, and the company continues to increase orders. It plans to introduce a more cost-competitive 20nm process and next-generation products to improve competitiveness and profitability.

In logic foundry, mature-node demand also remains strong. PSMC said its third-quarter book-to-bill ratio has reached 1.4, showing that customer demand is significantly higher than available supply.

AI servers, automotive electronics and power management ICs are the strongest application areas, with customers continuing to request additional wafer starts.

PSMC said mature-node capacity remains in short supply as demand for AI servers, memory and automotive chips continues. The company expects there is still room for further foundry price increases in the second half of the year.

Industry analysts said AI demand is now supporting not only HBM and advanced logic chips, but also DRAM, Flash, mature-node logic and power management ICs.

Unlike leading-edge process capacity, mature-node capacity is relatively slow to expand, but it remains widely used in server power systems, automotive electronics, controllers, display drivers, NOR Flash and selected memory products.