Core Viewpoint - The storage market has entered a "super bull market" phase, surpassing historical highs from 2018, driven by the increasing demand for AI and server capacity. Supplier bargaining power has reached an all-time high, with storage prices expected to rise significantly in the coming years [4]. Price Trends - The price of 64GB RDIMM storage has surged from $255 in Q3 2025 to $450 in Q4 2025, with expectations to further increase to $700 by March 2026. A price point of $1,000 (approximately $1.95/Gb) within this year is plausible, nearly double the 2018 peak of $1.00/Gb [5]. Cost Structure Changes - The ongoing rise in storage prices is fundamentally altering the Bill of Materials (BoM) for hardware manufacturers. Although capital expenditures are increasing, the supply-demand gap remains, with DRAM production expected to grow by 24% year-on-year in 2026 [6]. Smartphone Impact - By 2025, storage will account for over 10% of the BoM in the iPhone 17 Pro Max, up from about 8% in the iPhone 12 Pro Max in 2020. For flagship models with 16GB–24GB LPDDR5X memory and 512GB–1TB UFS 4.0 storage, the storage cost may exceed 20% of the BoM due to current price increases. The supply of older technologies like LPDDR4 and eMMC is rapidly shrinking as leading manufacturers shift production to more profitable server DDR5 storage [10].

Core Insights - The storage market has entered a "super bull market" phase, surpassing the historical peak of 2018, with prices expected to rise by 40%-50% by Q1 2026 and an additional 20% by Q2 2026 [1] Price Trends - The price of 64GB RDIMM memory has significantly increased from $255 in Q3 2025 ($0.50/Gb) to $450 in Q4 2025 ($0.88/Gb), with expectations to reach $700 by March 2026 ($1.37/Gb) [1] - There is a possibility that the price of this product could reach $1000 ($1.95/Gb) within the year, which would exceed the 2018 peak of $1.00/Gb [1] Smartphone Impact - For flagship smartphones equipped with 16GB-24GB LPDDR5X memory and 512GB-1TB UFS 4.0 storage, the rising storage costs may account for 20% or more of the Bill of Materials (BoM) [1] Supply Forecast - Counterpoint forecasts a 24% year-on-year increase in DRAM production by 2026, but it will still take time to meet the demand [1]