China Clears Out DDR5 RAM Stock, Prices Starting to Drop?

In the midst of a global memory crisis that has sharply driven up RAM prices, the Chinese market is showing an unusual trend, with distributors engaging in widespread “warehouse clearing”. This move has triggered significant price reductions for RAM, particularly DDR5, in recent weeks of late April. In the Chinese market, the price of a 16GB DDR5 SO-DIMM module has reportedly fallen from around 1,759 yuan (approximately Rp 4.3 million) to 1,159 yuan (approximately Rp 2.8 million). This represents a drop of about 34% compared to February 2026. This is not the first recent price decline for memory. In mid-April, the price of a 32GB DDR5 kit also plummeted by up to 30%, while 8GB and 16GB DDR4 capacities fell by up to 25%. Distributors are now forced to offload stock as the market weakens. Small vendors can no longer absorb RAM at high prices, while demand from home PC consumers has also decreased. Additionally, market panic has been triggered by Google’s introduction of the “TurboQuant” memory compression technology. This technology is claimed to reduce memory usage by up to six times for artificial intelligence (AI) needs. The emergence of this technology has made hoarders worried that demand from large-scale data centres will decline, prompting them to rush to sell stock before prices fall further. Nevertheless, current RAM prices are still far higher than normal conditions. In the same period last year, similar modules were sold for around 246 yuan or approximately Rp 600,000. This means that, despite the drop, DDR5 prices are still nearly five times more expensive than the previous year. The price decline trend is also visible in global markets. In Germany, DDR5 prices fell by about 7% in March, while in the United States, Corsair’s 32GB DDR5 kit reportedly dropped by up to 20%. This situation occurs because memory producers are prioritising supply for data centres over the consumer market, making supply for PCs and laptops limited. Although spot market prices are starting to fall due to warehouse clearing actions, consumers may not immediately feel the impact on assembled PC or laptop prices. This is because major manufacturers purchase RAM through long-term contracts, not daily spot market prices, as gathered by KompasTekno from Tech Radar and WCCF Tech. In fact, according to analyst projections, contract market memory prices will still rise. DRAM is expected to surge by up to 63%, while NAND Flash could increase by up to 75% in the second quarter of 2026.