Global storage markets continued their price increases this week. In the DRAM memory segment, spot prices for DDR5 and DDR4 modules showed slight fluctuations, as original equipment manufacturers prioritized capacity allocation toward server DRAM and HBM high-bandwidth memory. Although PC memory module quotations remained high, downstream demand from system integrators and DIY builders turned cautious. The back-to-school season failed to trigger a significant surge in demand, leading to weaker channel shipments and some room for price negotiation on certain models. Industry analysts noted that DRAM contract prices continued rising in the third quarter, but the month-on-month increase significantly moderated compared to the second quarter, with gains for some product categories dropping below 10%. In the SSD market, NAND flash manufacturer contract prices remained upward trending, though the momentum in consumer-grade SSDs weakened. Meanwhile, new enterprise PCIe 5.0 SSD products continued to launch. New technological developments emerged: Kioxia is developing CXL memory expansion modules, aiming to use NAND flash to offload part of the server DRAM workload and thereby increase server memory capacity. Additionally, the company plans to release prototype SSDs directly connected to GPUs by 2028, tailored for AI large-model applications.

No Relief in Sight: Why Consumer Storage Costs Will Stay High Through 2026 **AI Demand Siphons Supply as Consumer DRAM and SSD Prices Plateau at High Levels: Growth Slows, But Lows Remain Far Off** As artificial intelligence infrastructure demands explode worldwide, the global memory chip market is undergoing a profound structural shift. Throughout 2026, consumer DRAM and NAND solid-state drive (SSD) procurement costs have remained severely elevated. Mainstream 32GB DDR5 kits and 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs are trading at multiples of their previous cyclical lows. Although price growth has moderated in the third quarter of 2026 as consumer purchasing power hits an affordability wall, industry analysts expect elevated prices to persist through the remainder of 2026 and well into 2027 due to ongoing capacity reallocation toward enterprise SSDs and High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). **Capacity Reallocation and the AI Siphon Effect** The core catalyst of this supercycle stems from unyielding data center investments in AI compute infrastructure. Top memory manufacturers—including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—have prioritized fab capacity for high-margin HBM, server-grade RDIMMs, and enterprise SSDs (eSSDs). With production lines dedicated to AI workloads, the available wafer supply for conventional PC DRAM and client NAND Flash has been systematically squeezed. Simultaneously, the rapid push for "On-Device AI" across smartphones and AI PCs has raised baseline RAM and storage configurations, further compounding client memory shortages. This multi-layered squeeze drove extreme price spikes in early 2026, forcing PC builders and retail consumers to face steep hardware upgrade costs. **Q3 Price Surge Moderates Amid High-Level Tug-of-War** According to data from TrendForce, contract price increases have begun to moderate in Q3 2026 following explosive surges in the first half of the year. Conventional DRAM contract prices are projected to rise by 13% to 18% quarter-over-quarter in Q3, while NAND Flash contract prices are expected to increase by 10% to 15%. This deceleration does not signal oversupply, but rather an affordability bottleneck among PC OEMs and end-user consumers. With PC makers having pre-stocked inventory earlier in the year and retail consumers unable to absorb further steep cost pass-throughs, buyers and sellers are locked in tense negotiations. Facing sluggish PC and smartphone shipment growth, module vendors have little room left to raise consumer prices further. **Market Outlook: Plateauing at Highs ** Looking ahead through the rest of 2026 and into 2027, the likelihood of consumer storage returning to previous bargain-basement pricing is minimal. Because constructing new fab facilities and bringing them to production scale typically takes 1.5 to 2 years, supply tightness will not be fundamentally resolved this year. Market consensus points to high-level price plateauing in Q4 2026, with any temporary pullbacks remaining modest.  

Why Did Motherboard Prices Suddenly Surge? Temo Technology Will Explain it For You.   Hi, this is Winnie. Are you feeling shocked about the motherboard price suddenly surge this week? Actually, the motherboards materials already went up a lot from July. The recent wave of motherboard price increases in 2026 isn't primarily due to a sudden surge in motherboard demand, but rather because upstream costs are being driven up by AI server demand, leading motherboard manufacturers to pass on this cost pressure downstream. The main reasons are as follows: 1.PCB (Printed Circuit Board) Price Increases This is one of the most direct reasons. Supply chain sources indicate that PCB costs may rise significantly in the third quarter of 2026, with some suggesting a "up to 50% increase"; ASUS, MSI, and Gigabyte are rumored to be following suit. However, this 50% figure is currently only supply chain information and has not been officially confirmed by manufacturers. 2. AI Takes a Significant Slot of Upstream Capacity AI servers consume a large amount of components such as HBM, DRAM, NAND, PCB, and MLCC. TrendForce predicts that in the second quarter of 2026, general DRAM contract prices will increase by 58-63% quarter-on-quarter, and NAND Flash contract prices will increase by 70-75%, with storage manufacturers prioritizing capacity for servers and AI applications. This will indirectly increase the costs of memory-related components, power supplies, chips, and PCBs on motherboards. 3.Raw material prices, including copper, copper-clad laminates, and MLCCs, are also rising. A motherboard isn't just a PCB; it contains numerous capacitors, inductors, MOSFETs, power supply modules, and control chips. The electronic component supply chain is generally facing rising costs and longer lead times in the second half of this year, and PCB raw material supply is also tight. Motherboard manufacturers are more likely to raise prices despite declining sales. This seems unusual: why raise prices when sales are poor? Because memory, SSDs, and other components are now expensive, increasing the overall cost of building a PC. Consumers are delaying their builds, which also affects motherboard sales. With decreased shipments, manufacturers need to spread fixed R&D, distribution, and production costs across fewer products, resulting in greater cost pressure. The DDR5 platform itself makes the "overall PC price increase" more pronounced. Currently, AMD AM5 and Intel's new platforms are basically all based on DDR5. Previously, it was possible to buy cheaper DDR4 to reduce the overall cost of a PC, but this is difficult to do with the new platforms; therefore, when memory prices rise, the overall cost of building a PC—including the motherboard, CPU, and memory—increases.   But if you ask us if you can wait for the price decreasing? We do not suggest this. Current information indicates that cost pressures on PCBs, DRAM, and NAND will persist until at least the second half of...

AI Demand Fuels High-End MLCC Demand, Japanese and Korean Manufacturers See Record High Book-to-Book (BB) Ratios, Supply Shortage Risk Rises in Second Half of the Year   July 17, 2026 — A recent TrendForce report shows that upgrades to AI server platforms and the continued ramp-up of CSP's self-developed ASICs are rapidly driving demand for high-end MLCCs. As of late June, the BB ratios of Murata, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Taiyo Yuden, the three leading Japanese and Korean manufacturers, rose to 1.30, 1.31, and 1.25 respectively, reaching new highs since the pandemic, while the overall industry BB ratio climbed to 1.04.   Murata's Q1 financial report is particularly noteworthy: its order backlog ratio reached 1.27, exceeding the peak of 1.25 at the beginning of the most severe MLCC shortage in 2018, indicating that backlogged orders are accumulating rapidly and the risk of supply shortages is intensifying.   Demand shows a significant divergence between hot and cold markets. According to TrendForce, the US CPI rose 4.2% year-on-year in May, with high interest rates continuing to suppress consumer purchasing power, putting pressure on demand for smartphones and laptops. Intel and AMD are also prioritizing CPU production capacity for AI applications, squeezing traditional PC supply and forcing ODMs to shift to rush orders, further driving up material costs. In stark contrast, mass production of AI custom accelerator platforms such as Google TPU, AWS Trainium, and Meta MTIA is ramping up, continuously driving up demand for high-capacitance, low-voltage, and miniaturized MLCCs.   The supply-side squeeze has spread to the automotive and consumer electronics sectors. Apple's supply chain started stockpiling one to two months earlier than usual, and automotive ODMs have also shifted their procurement schedule from July to May, reflecting widespread market concerns about a supply gap in the second half of the year. In the Chinese market, distributors have raised prices for mainstream consumer-grade X5R MLCCs since June, with an average increase of 15%–25%, further exacerbating market tensions.   Taiwanese and mainland Chinese manufacturers are seeing a surge in orders from overseas markets. With Japanese and Korean manufacturers continuing to prioritize orders for high-end AI MLCCs, TrendForce predicts that Yageo, Walsin Technology, and Microcapacitor will benefit from the spillover demand for mid-to-high capacitance consumer-grade X5R MLCCs in Q3.   Looking ahead to the second half of the year, Q4 may be a key turning point. Starting in Q3, NVIDIA, Google, and AMD's next-generation AI platforms will enter mass production, and capacity utilization is expected to remain highly concentrated on AI orders. Coupled with customers stockpiling inventory, lead times for high-end MLCCs are expected to extend, and prices may rise further. TrendForce believes that Q4 will be a crucial period for determining whether the high-end ML...

AI Infrastructure and Capacity Squeeze Fuel Ongoing Memory Supercycle: Q3 2026 DRAM and NAND Market Update Date: July 10, 2026 The global memory and storage markets continue to navigate an unprecedented "supercycle" in Q3 2026. Relentless artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure demands are severely squeezing conventional supply, driving data center contract prices upward while forcing a sharp structural divide with the consumer retail market. The AI-Driven Supply Crunch Top-tier chipmakers—including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—are aggressively reallocating production lines to high-margin AI components: · DRAM & HBM Realignment: Expanding High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM3e/HBM4) for AI accelerators has severely constrained standard DDR5 and legacy DDR4 wafer capacity. · Enterprise SSD Dominance: AI servers require up to ten times more storage than traditional systems. Manufacturers are prioritizing massive enterprise SSDs over client-grade solutions. · Legacy DRAM Fallout: DDR4 memory faces an unexpected shortage. Taiwanese makers have quoted Q3 2026 contract prices up to 50% higher, as high-capacity enterprise SSDs require discrete legacy DRAM chips to manage random workloads. Short-Term Trajectory: Divergence in Q3 & Q4 2026 Procurement trends reveal a widening gap between white-hot enterprise demands and strained consumer budgets: · Enterprise Sector Peak: Standard server DRAM contract prices are projected to climb an additional 20% to 30%, while enterprise NAND flash costs face a 35% to 40% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) spike. · Consumer PC Memory (DDR5): Price growth is decelerating to a modest 13% to 18% QoQ. Pushed to their absolute budget limits, global PC brands are aggressively resisting further price hikes amid weak retail laptop and desktop demand. · Client SSD Stabilization: Consumer storage contract prices will plateau with a minimal 0% to 5% increase this quarter. PC OEMs built up substantial protective inventory in early 2026 and have shifted to a conservative, wait-and-see procurement approach. Long-Term Outlook: Stabilizing at an Elevated Floor Industry intelligence from TrendForce and Omdia indicates that a return to 2023–2024 pricing lows is highly unlikely within the next 18 months: · 2026 Plateau: Prices will flatten at an elevated level toward the end of Q4 2026 rather than declining sharply. High baseline wafer manufacturing costs dictated by AI will keep consumer PCIe 5.0 2TB SSDs anchored near $380–$400, and mainstream PCIe 4.0 2TB options above $250. · Late 2027 Normalization: Meaningful supply relief is not projected until late 2027 or early 2028. This timeline depends on advanced manufacturing facilities—such as SK Hynix’s Yongin complex and Micron’s US fabs—fully coming online to introduce net-new wafer capacity. Strategic Implications for Businesses For corporate procurement, lead times for specialized memory now exceed 16 weeks. Given ongoing supply constraints, organizations must act immediately to lock in con...

Q3 Price Forecast for the Storage Industry-- Temo Technology   Hi, this is Winnie. Q3 is coming, many customers are shocked about the price increasing this week. After nearly three months of inventory digestion, the memory spot market has finally reached a turning point. Aletheia Capital projects that the average selling price of server DRAM will rise by 30% quarter-over-quarter in the third quarter of 2026. Since late June, prices across various memory spot products have steadily rebounded, with a simultaneous uptick in market inquiries and actual transaction volumes. Shortages have emerged for certain products, and a sentiment of holding back stock in anticipation of price hikes—or a reluctance to sell while waiting to see how the market evolves—has intensified significantly, marking a clear improvement in the overall market climate.   Recent spot market performance indicates that this round of price increases is not driven by a significant recovery in end-user demand, but rather reflects a renewed tightening of supply and demand dynamics.   This week, reports emerged that a domestic DRAM manufacturer had signed a long-term supply agreement with Tencent—valued at over RMB 20 billion and spanning three to five years—while Lenovo also entered into long-term partnerships with the three major international memory manufacturers (Samsung Electronics, Micron, and SK Hynix) to secure supplies in advance for its AI server and infrastructure businesses.   These developments illustrate a shift in the competitive dynamics of the industry supply chain. In the past, companies purchasing memory focused primarily on low prices; today, the priority has shifted to ensuring future availability and a continuous supply.   The proliferation of long-term procurement agreements signals that the memory industry has entered a phase defined by "capacity locking."   As the second half of the year begins, market focus has shifted to the race to secure resources. The key factor driving future market trends will no longer be short-term price fluctuations, but rather which players can be the first to lock in limited production capacity. Given the difficulty of rapidly bringing new supply to market, the memory market's upward cycle is expected to continue.   Best regards,   Winnie        

GMOG Successfully Concluded Eletrolar Show 2026 in Brazil We are delighted to announce the successful conclusion of our participation in Eletrolar Show 2026, held from June 22 to 25, 2026, at Distrito Anhembi, São Paulo, Brazil. During the exhibition, GMOG showcased our latest product solutions, including RAM Memory, SSDs, Motherboards, and Graphic Cards. We had the pleasure of meeting many distributors, retailers, system integrators, and industry partners from Brazil and across Latin America. The event provided an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas, explore new business opportunities, and strengthen existing partnerships.   We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who visited our booth and spent time with our team. Your trust, support, and valuable discussions made this exhibition a truly meaningful and successful experience for us. As we move forward, GMOG remains committed to delivering reliable products, flexible OEM/ODM services, and professional support to customers worldwide. We look forward to building stronger partnerships and creating more opportunities together in the future. Thank you for visiting us at Eletrolar Show 2026. See you at our next exhibition! KIKI LEE | TEMO Weekly Review

Celebrating Two Decades of Deep Cultivation and Embracing the Dragon Boat Festival: A Letter from [GHT] to All Partners and Customers Dear Partners and Customers: The air is filled with the fragrance of mugwort, and dragon boats race across the water. On the occasion of the Dragon Boat Festival in the Year of the Horse, all colleagues at [GHT] extend our sincerest holiday greetings to you! As a company with over twenty years of experience in electronic product manufacturing, we have deeply cultivated the three core areas of memory, SSDs, and motherboards, resonating with the industry and witnessing and participating in every technological revolution and market ups and downs. I. Market Trends: Storage "Dragon Boat" Race, Motherboard "Road" Under Pressure Looking back at the first half of 2026, the global storage and PC hardware market is experiencing an unprecedented "dragon boat race"—AI computing power demand is driving the entire industry chain forward at full speed, bringing about dramatic structural changes. Memory (DRAM): Prices remain at historically high levels. Based on September 2025, by mid-June 2026, the average price increase for DDR5 memory had reached 288%, with mainstream 32GB kits priced nearly four times the benchmark level. The DDR5 price index in the German market rebounded rapidly to 419% after a brief dip in March. Analysts predict that the average selling price of DRAM will still have room for a 30% increase in the third quarter of 2026. The pressure from AI on production capacity has not been fundamentally alleviated, and the price increase may continue into 2027. Solid State Drives (SSDs): Prices are also high. The average price of a 1TB NVMe SSD has increased by 112% compared to the benchmark. For example, a 1TB model from a certain brand cost approximately €50 in September 2025, but now costs nearly €140. More noteworthy is the dramatic change in market structure—the consumer retail SSD market has essentially shrunk, and controller chip and NAND production capacity is shifting on a large scale to OEM system supply. Motherboards: As the "backbone" of complete system assembly, the motherboard market is experiencing pressure from upstream suppliers. High prices for memory, SSDs, and graphics cards have significantly dampened consumer willingness to build new PCs. Industry data shows that in April 2026, motherboard shipments in mainland China decreased by approximately 9% month-on-month and a sharp 44% year-on-year decline, marking the largest monthly drop in recent years. Leading motherboard manufacturers are projected to see shipments plummet to 5 million units in the first half of 2026, and hover around 10 million units for the entire year, a decrease of one-third compared to the 15 million units shipped in 2025. The four major motherboard manufacturers will experience an average decline of approximately 28%. Gartner predicts that global PC shipments will decline by 10.4% in 2026 due to rising memory costs. II. Two Decade...