A report from South Korea’s Meritz Securities said Middle Eastern sovereign AI investors, including those tied to Saudi Arabia, have recently started discussing mid- to long-term memory procurement plans with Korean memory chip makers. The firm said stronger demand is already pushing up prices in the server DRAM spot market, with gains particularly pronounced in high-end products running at 6400Mbps bus speeds.
Meritz added that as supply shortages deepen, competition for investment between cloud service providers and frontier model developers is increasingly centered on products that can maximize performance. It also pointed to a sharp move in 64GB DDR5 server DRAM spot prices, which have climbed to $3,100 to $3,400 since mid-July. At the high end, that is about 146% above the contract price of roughly $1,380 seen at the end of June.
The brokerage said server DRAM contract prices in the third quarter of 2026 could rise by more than the market’s current expectation of around 15% quarter over quarter. It also noted that suppliers that adopted more flexible, customer-friendly pricing in the second quarter may see especially notable price increases in the third and fourth quarters.
BlockBeats reported on July 19 that a report from South Korea’s Meritz Securities said channel checks show Middle Eastern sovereign AI investors, including those from Saudi Arabia, have recently begun discussing mid- to long-term procurement plans for memory products with Korean memory chip manufacturers.
The report said demand growth has already started to put upward pressure on the server DRAM spot market. Price gains have been especially visible in higher-end products with bus speeds of 6400Mbps.
Meritz said that as supply shortages become more severe, investment competition between cloud service providers and frontier model developers is becoming more concentrated in products that can maximize performance.
On pricing, spot prices for 64GB DDR5 server DRAM have risen sharply since mid-July, recently reaching $3,100 to $3,400. At the high end, that is about 146% above the contract price of roughly $1,380 at the end of June.
Meritz Securities expects server DRAM contract prices in the third quarter of 2026 to rise by more than the market’s current expectation of around 15% quarter over quarter.
The report also said suppliers that used more flexible, customer-friendly pricing in the second quarter may see especially pronounced price increases in the third and fourth quarters.
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