{"id":91,"date":"2026-09-18T05:17:04","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:17:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/?p=91"},"modified":"2026-09-18T05:17:04","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:17:04","slug":"dram-spot-price-trend-what-is-moving-the-china-memory-market-this-quarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/dram-spot-price-trend-what-is-moving-the-china-memory-market-this-quarter\/","title":{"rendered":"DRAM Spot Price Trend: What Is Moving the China Memory Market This Quarter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Data as of mid-September 2026. Figures cited from TrendForce and trade press; spot prices move weekly \u2014 treat this as a snapshot, not a quote.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The memory market has stayed tight through Q3 2026. The AI and HBM build-out is absorbing wafer capacity that used to feed conventional DRAM, so mainstream parts remain in short supply and supplier quotes stay firm even when spot demand softens.<\/p>\n<h2>What the spot tape is showing<\/h2>\n<p>According to TrendForce, mainstream DDR4 rose about 1.78% week-on-week on 2Gx8 orders in early September, while DDR5 spot demand remained limited. The pattern is consistent: end-demand at spot is uneven, but disciplined supplier pricing keeps the floor elevated. Earlier in July, TrendForce noted China spot prices showing early signs of easing, with second-hand 16 GB DDR4 reportedly falling over 30% from its peak \u2014 a reminder that the spot market can correct faster than contract.<\/p>\n<h2>Why prices stay firm<\/h2>\n<p>Two forces dominate. First, HBM and server DDR5 for AI consume capacity that would otherwise serve consumer and industrial DRAM. Second, the top suppliers have pivoted to high-value products, leaving a vacancy in mainstream DRAM that Chinese fabs are filling \u2014 CXMT has reportedly reached roughly 10% of global DRAM revenue share (TechPowerUp, China Daily), which adds supply but not fast enough to break the cycle.<\/p>\n<h2>The 3-6 month view<\/h2>\n<p>Multiple houses and analysts expect Q4 2026 to be the price high point or inflection. The practical read for buyers: if you need mainstream DDR4\/DDR5 into year-end, lock contract quantities and dates now rather than chasing spot; if you are over-bought, watch the second-hand channel for the first real softening.<\/p>\n<h2>What to do<\/h2>\n<p>Map exposure by grade and density, second-source to credible Chinese alternatives, and keep samples validated so a contract decision is not blocked by qualification. Our <a href=\"\/en\/market-intelligence\/\">market desk<\/a> tracks this weekly.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DRAM spot prices have been volatile this quarter as supply discipline, inventory levels and AI-server demand pull in different directions. This brief breaks down what actually moved prices and what it means for your next buy.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-intelligence"],"spectra_blocks_featured_image_url":null,"spectra_blocks_author_info":{"display_name":"","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_link":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/author\/","description":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91\/revisions\/110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gardarasemi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}