The DRAM market experienced explosive growth in the fourth quarter of 2025, with industry revenue reaching $53.58 billion, up 29.4% from the previous quarter. This surge was driven by expanding AI applications pushing hyperscale cloud providers to dramatically increase data center build-outs, extending beyond specialized AI servers to general-purpose infrastructure.

TrendForce reports that buyers are struggling to secure sufficient supply as demand far outstrips availability across all DRAM segments. The supply-demand gap has given suppliers significant pricing power, with conventional DRAM contract prices rising 45-50% quarter-over-quarter. Even higher, blended contract prices for both conventional DRAM and HBM increased 50-55%, marking an accelerated upswing across all product categories.

This pricing pressure reflects broader market dynamics as AI infrastructure expansion drives unprecedented memory procurement beyond traditional high-bandwidth products to include RDIMMs across multiple densities. The market shift has also allowed Samsung to regain its position as the top DRAM supplier, capitalizing on the supply constraints and surging demand that characterize the current AI-driven expansion cycle.