Forecasts published in the period pointed to third-quarter contracts rising 20% to 30% for DRAM and 35% to 40% for NAND, following further increases already projected by industry analysts.
Contract percentages matter more than retail prices because they set the cost for anyone assembling equipment. An increase of that order runs through the whole chain within months: it shows up in data centre budgets, laptop prices and the cost of building a phone.
The cause is competition for capacity. High-bandwidth memory destined for AI uses production lines that would otherwise serve general consumption, and allocation follows whoever pays more and signs a bigger contract.
The effect was already visible elsewhere in the month: a billion dollars of phone silicon waiting for packaging, laptop makers qualifying alternative suppliers, and large buyers recording billions in budget increases that are purely price.
For anyone planning a purchase, the only short-term defence is the familiar one in a tight market: contract early, keep a qualified second source, and treat any price forecast as a range rather than a number.