Friday, September 5th 2025
Flash Memory and Chip Prices Rise as TSMC, SanDisk Announce Hikes
TSMC will implement significant price adjustments beginning in 2026, targeting advanced nodes below 5 nm with increases ranging from 5% to 10%, TrendForce reports. The world's largest contract chipmaker currently sells 3 nm wafers for approximately $20,000 each, but expects 2 nm wafers to exceed $30,000 when mass production begins in late 2025. These changes affect major customers including Apple and NVIDIA. TSMC's investments of over $65 billion in Arizona facilities represent a key factor in this pricing strategy since the U.S. plant started 4 nm production in early 2025. AMD's Lisa Su confirmed these overseas facilities cost 5-20% more to operate than Taiwan-based manufacturing due to various operational factors. The price increases show TSMC's efforts to maintain gross margins above 53% while Arizona operations are expected to reduce company-wide margins by 2-3% initially, potentially reaching 3-4% over time.
Meanwhile SanDisk announced a 10% price increase for all channel partners and consumer products, effective for new orders placed after September 5th. SanDisk says this decision is based on the increasing demand from AI applications, data centers, and mobile devices. The company plans regular price reviews with potential future modifications, while TSMC may reduce prices for mature manufacturing processes where cost pressures remain manageable.
Sources:
TrendForce, China Flash Market, via IT Home
Meanwhile SanDisk announced a 10% price increase for all channel partners and consumer products, effective for new orders placed after September 5th. SanDisk says this decision is based on the increasing demand from AI applications, data centers, and mobile devices. The company plans regular price reviews with potential future modifications, while TSMC may reduce prices for mature manufacturing processes where cost pressures remain manageable.
22 Comments on Flash Memory and Chip Prices Rise as TSMC, SanDisk Announce Hikes
Schrodinger's NAND prices.
Tens of billions not hundreds of millions like a normal factory would cost.
Just look at intel, they f*ed them selves over by over extending them selves while not beiong market leader
Time to rewrite all those economic text books
Operating income: US$41.14 billion (2024)
Net income: US$36.49 billion (2024)
They had 40.5% as net income for last year, truly a very poor company and this year will be "even worse". \sarcasm
I truly don't understand how you can make excuses for them by claiming factories are ridiculously expensive, when they receive $B in support from taxpayer money just so they build It there. With the money they earn they can afford new factories even without any taxpayer money to be honest.
BTW, Intel is in deep trouble not because they have(had) low margins, but because of their foundries not being competitive.It's called monopoly, and I don't mean the game.
Has the AI bubble raised prices? Absolutely it has. Has the COVID pandemic raised prices? Absolutely it has. Has geopolitics and inflation raised prices? Absolutely it has.
But prices were rising well before any of these forces started. You can blame the death of Moore's Law for that.
Between the increased US ops costs + those damned tarrifs on practically EVERYTHING everywhere all at once all the time, this was bound to happen sooner or later......
The price of every molecule of oxygen you breath will be increasing by 10%.......per second, per minute, per hour, until someone decides otherwise, hahahaha :(
/s
The way things are going. It wouldn't be that surprising to read in a little while "TSMC is requesting permission to build their own nuclear power plant so they can generate all the power they need."
as they need to make their own ultra clean water and running those EUV machines take quite a bit of power and that power can't go down or months of work is ruined
This quote makes it very clear to me.