China’s top memory chipmaker YMTC to raise prices, alongside US peers Micron, Sandisk

The expected increase from April, which averages around 10 per cent, indicates that NAND Flash memory prices are set to rebound this year

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Yangtze Memory Technologies Co is China’s largest maker of memory chips. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:00pm, 19 Mar 2025Updated: 10:46pm, 19 Mar 2025

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC) and other major memory chip manufacturers, including US peers Micron Technology and Sandisk, are expected to raise their prices next month amid the sector’s reduced production and strong demand from the artificial intelligence (AI) market.

These memory chipmakers have already informed their distributors, including those in mainland China, of the price increase, according to various industry publications.

ZhiTai, a retail brand of solid-state drives (SSDs) and storage cards that use core memory from YMTC, already advised distributors that prices would rise at least 10 per cent from April, according to reports from TMTPost, ChinaFlashMarket and MyDrivers.

Following flash storage giant Sandisk’s announcement of a price hike “in excess of 10 per cent” from April 1, a report by Taiwan’s Digitimes this week suggested that YMTC, Micron, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix would follow suit.

These initiatives indicate that NAND Flash memory prices are set to rebound this year.

Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix had resumed memory chip production cuts in late 2024 to curb NAND price declines. That move helped stabilise supply-demand balance, according to a report by Taiwan’s TechNews.

Sandisk’s price hike stems from the rise in costs owing to recent tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, as well as its confidence in market demand, according to TechNews, which cited an email from Sandisk chief revenue officer Jerald Kagele.