Memory prices have already been rising for more than half a year, and the past three months have been especially outrageous. Previously, you could buy 32GB DDR5 memory for just over 300 RMB, but now it costs more than 1,000 RMB, with the price tripling.
What’s even more absurd is that this price surge is actually just getting started. Even the most conservative estimates say prices will continue rising for four consecutive quarters this year, and 2027 will very likely also see shortages and further price hikes—unless the AI market bubble bursts.
Some upstream manufacturers even predict that the price increases will continue into 2028 or even 2030. In short, except for memory (and flash memory) related companies, it feels like everyone else is going to have a hard time.
Under this trend, the performance of memory manufacturers will not just be explosive—it will be far beyond imagination. UBS has forecast SK Hynix’s performance for this year.
By Q4, the average selling price (ASP) of DDR memory is expected to approach the peak level of the 2018 cycle, at about USD 0.97 per Gb. Converted, that’s roughly 50 RMB per 1GB, meaning a 32GB bare chip would cost around 1,600 RMB.
It’s important to note that this price applies to upstream memory manufacturers. After being made into memory modules and passing through multiple stages, even conservative estimates suggest that a 32GB memory stick could reach 3,000–4,000 RMB by the end of the year, and even 5,000 RMB is not impossible—especially since high-frequency memory is much more expensive.
At such prices, SK Hynix’s profits will truly shine. The main profit source is standard DDR memory, with year-end profits expected to surge 2.9 times year-on-year, contributing 67% of total profit.
SK Hynix’s operating profit margin (OPM) is expected to reach 82%. Operating margin is usually lower than gross margin, which means the gross margin could very likely exceed 90%, or even higher.
Describing memory manufacturers’ profit-making ability this year as “earning tenfold on every dollar invested” might sound exaggerated, but achieving “one cost, ten times profit” should be entirely possible.
The price of 32GB memory is racing toward 3,000–4,000 RMB, and Korean manufacturer SK Hynix’s profit margin is set to reach 82%.
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