TheRetroArcade
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Joined: Feb 2026
Joined: Feb 2026
More bad news for us mere mortals.
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Just when I had dared to hope the memory supply crisis might begin to feel slightly less apocalyptic, Phison Electronics CEO Khein-seng Pua has sounded the alarm that NAND prices are still climbing at an alarming rate. This time, Pua says that NAND prices jumped up by 50% overnight.
This price increase is chiefly driven by outsized demand—namely from the AI industry—and severe supply constraints. As such, the Taiwanese memory controller supplier counts both hyperscale AI operators and cloud service providers among its recent clients, with enterprise SSDs now accounting for 30% of Phison's Q1 2026 revenue (Via DigiTimes).
But even in such a financially favourable position, Phison is still having to contend with a tricky supply landscape. Though the company has already signed long-term agreements with two DRAM as well as six NAND suppliers, it is continuing to negotiate prepayment plans to ensure it will have priority access to supply should the shortage continue to worsen.
It is a popular belief that suppliers are raking it in during this memory shortage—and to be clear, Phison's inventory did rise from NT$35.6 billion to NT$50 billion between the end of 2025 and the last day of February 2026. Still, Khein-seng Pua has said, "Our current concern is that both money and inventory are insufficient."
Indeed, the company board has recently approved a syndicated loan plan between US$400 million to US$500 million to better support both its growing inventory, as well as research and development costs.
Furthermore, what may seem like a nice little nest egg of existing inventory for Phison carries a huge amount of risk. For instance, the market may shift again, and the value of Phison's inventory could crater. But as Samsung reportedly confirmed a DRAM price increase of 'over 100%', and HP claims that both RAM and storage now account for 35% of the total cost of its PC, such a seismic shift still seems far off.
It may not be all doom and gloom though, as major players like Phison aren't content to be passive presences in such a landscape. For instance, the company is touting its aiDAPTIV+ technology extension as a balm to constrained DRAM supply.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Phison's aiDAPTIV+ architecture "accelerates inference, significantly i...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
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Every Friday
GamesRadar+
Your weekly update on everything you could ever want to know about the games you already love, games we know you're going to love in the near future, and tales from the communities that surround them.
Every Thursday
GTA 6 O'clock
Our special GTA 6 newsletter, with breaking news, insider info, and rumor analysis from the award-winning GTA 6 O'clock experts.
Every Friday
Knowledge
From the creators of Edge: A weekly videogame industry newsletter with analysis from expert writers, guidance from professionals, and insight into what's on the horizon.
Every Thursday
The Setup
Hardware nerds unite, sign up to our free tech newsletter for a weekly digest of the hottest new tech, the latest gadgets on the test bench, and much more.
Every Wednesday
Switch 2 Spotlight
Sign up to our new Switch 2 newsletter, where we bring you the latest talking points on Nintendo's new console each week, bring you up to date on the news, and recommend what games to play.
Every Saturday
The Watchlist
Subscribe for a weekly digest of the movie and TV news that matters, direct to your inbox. From first-look trailers, interviews, reviews and explainers, we've got you covered.
Once a month
SFX
Get sneak previews, exclusive competitions and details of special events each month!
Just when I had dared to hope the memory supply crisis might begin to feel slightly less apocalyptic, Phison Electronics CEO Khein-seng Pua has sounded the alarm that NAND prices are still climbing at an alarming rate. This time, Pua says that NAND prices jumped up by 50% overnight.
This price increase is chiefly driven by outsized demand—namely from the AI industry—and severe supply constraints. As such, the Taiwanese memory controller supplier counts both hyperscale AI operators and cloud service providers among its recent clients, with enterprise SSDs now accounting for 30% of Phison's Q1 2026 revenue (Via DigiTimes).
But even in such a financially favourable position, Phison is still having to contend with a tricky supply landscape. Though the company has already signed long-term agreements with two DRAM as well as six NAND suppliers, it is continuing to negotiate prepayment plans to ensure it will have priority access to supply should the shortage continue to worsen.
It is a popular belief that suppliers are raking it in during this memory shortage—and to be clear, Phison's inventory did rise from NT$35.6 billion to NT$50 billion between the end of 2025 and the last day of February 2026. Still, Khein-seng Pua has said, "Our current concern is that both money and inventory are insufficient."
Indeed, the company board has recently approved a syndicated loan plan between US$400 million to US$500 million to better support both its growing inventory, as well as research and development costs.
Furthermore, what may seem like a nice little nest egg of existing inventory for Phison carries a huge amount of risk. For instance, the market may shift again, and the value of Phison's inventory could crater. But as Samsung reportedly confirmed a DRAM price increase of 'over 100%', and HP claims that both RAM and storage now account for 35% of the total cost of its PC, such a seismic shift still seems far off.
It may not be all doom and gloom though, as major players like Phison aren't content to be passive presences in such a landscape. For instance, the company is touting its aiDAPTIV+ technology extension as a balm to constrained DRAM supply.
Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.
Phison's aiDAPTIV+ architecture "accelerates inference, significantly i...Read more: Full article on www.pcgamer.com
What do you think about this?