Samsung DDR5 Prices Triple in South Korea Within Three Months

The price of Samsung’s DDR5-5600 16 GB memory modules has surged dramatically in South Korea, rising nearly threefold in just three months. The spike highlights escalating supply pressures and growing demand across the PC and server markets, driven largely by AI-related hardware requirements and tightening DRAM production cycles.

Retail reports from major Korean electronics marketplaces show that modules which were selling at comparatively low prices earlier this year have now become significantly more expensive. Analysts attribute the rise to a combination of factors: reduced DRAM output by manufacturers, a rebound in global semiconductor demand, and surging interest in AI-capable systems requiring high-speed memory.

Samsung, the world’s largest memory producer, has been scaling back low-margin DRAM manufacturing to stabilize market pricing after a prolonged slump. As inventories shrink and orders from data centers, GPU manufacturers, and AI startups grow, DDR5 supply has tightened sharply. Industry experts note that DDR5 adoption is accelerating as new CPUs from Intel and AMD rely heavily on the standard, further boosting demand.

The triple-price surge has frustrated PC builders and consumers, many of whom had anticipated continued price drops following last year’s decline. Instead, memory costs are climbing at one of the fastest rates seen since 2017’s DRAM shortage.

Market analysts warn that prices may continue to rise into early next year unless production ramps up or global demand cools. For now, DDR5 has become one of the hottest—and costliest—components in the memory market, reflecting the broader volatility of the AI-driven semiconductor era.