18th May, 2026 – Unipi responds to global semiconductor and electronic component market developments
Dear Business Partners,
In March, we informed you of the first price list adjustment in response to developments in electronic component prices. Unfortunately, the market situation has deteriorated further over the past two months, and a further update is now necessary. As before, we want to be transparent about the facts that informed our decision.
Memory availability: no stabilization yet
The March projections assumed that, following the sharp Q1 2026 increase (when DRAM prices rose by more than 90% quarter-on-quarter), the market would at least partially stabilize. That has not materialized. TrendForce's latest April forecast for Q2 2026 points to a further quarter-on-quarter rise in DRAM contract prices of 58–63%.
At the same time, a paradoxical effect has emerged. The start of mass HBM4 production by Samsung at the beginning of 2026 — from which the market expected a release of capacity — has instead worsened the situation. For HBM4, Samsung has allocated capacity that had until then been used for commodity DDR5. HBM production consumes roughly three times more wafer area than producing an equivalent volume of conventional DRAM.
Pressure is also growing in other segments. Western Digital is sold out of hard drives for the whole of 2026. Some types of memory cards and flash drives have risen in price year-on-year by up to 261%, and the category-wide average exceeds 124%.
Forecasts are also extending the timeline of the shortage. Whereas in March stabilization was being discussed within the 2027–2028 timeframe, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won now states that the imbalance may persist until 2030. For 2026, IDC expects DRAM supply to grow by only 16% year-on-year, compared with the historical average of 20–30%.
Impact on the price list
Over the past two months, input costs for memory components have moved above the level we are able absorb. Effective today, an updated price list therefore enters into force. As before, prices reflect only the actual change in costs, not margins. Given the nature of the market, we may need to make a further adjustments in the second half of the year.
Updated recommendation
Our March recommendation to increase stock levels has been borne out by subsequent developments, and in the current context it is now more relevant. Major electronics manufacturers have already taken a similar step — Lenovo has publicly acknowledged holding memory stocks roughly 50% above normal levels. If you have planned projects or recurring orders for the second half of the year, we recommend discussing pre-stocking with your sales representative at the earliest opportunity.
Thank you for your patience and your trust. We are aware that a repeated price list adjustment over such a short period is not a comfortable situation for anyone, and we are addressing it with maximum fairness and transparency.
Should you have any questions, please contact your sales representative.
Sources
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TrendForce: AI Server Demand to Drive Memory Contract Price Increases in 2Q26 (31. 3. 2026)
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IDC: Global Memory Shortage Crisis: Market Analysis and the Potential Impact on the Smartphone and PC Markets in 2026 (10. 2. 2026)
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Bloomberg: Memory Chip Crunch to Persist Until 2030, SK Chairman Says (17. 3. 2026)
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Network World: Samsung warns of memory shortages driving industry-wide price surge in 2026 (14. 1. 2026)
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PCWorld: Investigation: Even USB flash drives and SD cards are becoming unaffordable (14. 4. 2026)
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Introl: South Korea's HBM4 Moment (7. 1. 2026)
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Bloomberg: Lenovo Stockpiling PC Memory Due to 'Unprecedented' AI Squeeze (24. 11. 2025)
