So, Micron, was it worth it?
After months of straight increases, DRAM pricing is finally starting to crack. TrendForce says DDR5 retail prices in Germany posted their first monthly decline in March after eight months of gains , while some U.S. kits have already dropped more than 20% from recent peaks.
In China, retail pricing has also turned lower, with TrendForce citing a move from roughly RMB 1,300 to RMB 1,000 for mainstream 16GB DDR5 modules. As Harukaze pointed out, one widely shared China market report even claimed some 16GB sticks fell by more than RMB 100 (around $14) in a single day.
Source: TrendForce
According to reports citing a Chinese seller on Buynow, memory prices plummeted by 100 CNY (about 14 USD) over the past weekend. The market is in turmoil as prices have fallen sharply in just one or two days. https://t.co/Abho2DGzHm
— 포시포시 (@harukaze5719) March 31, 2026
DRAM prices skyrocketed since October, largely because the market expected AI companies to absorb huge amounts of supply, and OpenAI quickly became the main name tied to that story. Reports said the company had signed letters of intent tied to as many as 900,000 wafers per month, which pushed expectations for tighter memory availability.
Some now think that demand story has cooled, and the latest pullback is also being linked to Google’s TurboQuant announcement. This is basically a new compression method for AI workloads that cuts the memory needed for LLM cache data by at least 50%. That does not mean DRAM demand suddenly disappears, but it does give investors one more reason to question how long memory prices could stay this high.
Turns out Sam Altman "buying up" 40% of DRAM wafers was actually him writing Letters of Intent. Letters he supposedly had / has no intention of converting to actual purchases now.
And memory manufacturers are just getting DUMPED on today.🍿🍿 pic.twitter.com/LVC3roDOyG
— Hardware Canucks (@hardwarecanucks) March 30, 2026
Stocks have reacted much faster than contract pricing. Micron fell 9.9% on Monday and the stock is now nearly 30% below its March 18 high, while South Korea’s broader March selloff has pushed Samsung Electronics and SK hynix down more than 20% through the month. Tuesday alone took another 5.2% off Samsung and 7.6% off SK hynix. That is a sharp reset, but in reality, stocks are still much higher than they were a few months ago.
It is good to see something finally changing, but it is still best to stay realistic. At least now I have something positive to write about memory.
Source: TrendForce , Wall Street Journal , Google TurboQuant
