According to a report by DigiTimes Asia, DDR5 memory prices are expected to plunge in the 2nd half of 2022 and continue to drop in 2023. DDR5 contract prices reportedly fell by 20% in July, and chip vendors have begun 'offloading' entry-level DDR5 chips, with consumer DDR5 module pricing at channel distributors falling below that of memory module manufacturers.
DigiTimes say prices will continue to drop rapidly in the second half of 2022 and will hit the "sweet spot" in 2023. Falling DDR5 prices are also expected to boost the adoption rate of DDR5. This is on top of the rapid price reductions on DDR5 this year. Unfortunately, these sources don't say DDR5's sweet spot pricing, but we expect optimal prices to be close to current DDR4 pricing, if not identical.
The timing of reduced DDR5 pricing couldn't be better. With the release of AMD's DDR5-only Ryzen 7000 series processors, DDR5 will become a high-demand item very soon. Lower prices will also help AMD stay competitive with Intel's cheaper DDR4-supporting Alder Lake and Raptor Lake alternatives.
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Despite this, even Intel will also benefit from the DDR5 price reductions. Intel has already supported DDR5 for almost a year with Alder Lake, but due to pricing issues, most of Intel's user base has stuck with DDR4 instead of moving to DDR5.
Once DDR5 demand increases and prices decrease, we can expect new Intel buyers to follow suit and purchase high-speed DDR5 memory kits instead of DDR4 kits. This will be optimal for Intel since its Alder Lake architecture can take advantage of DDR5's immense bandwidth upgrades in various workloads.
Currently, DDR5 prices are already very low compared to where they were in late 2021. A baseline 4800MHz 32GB dual channel kit of DDR5 memory costs $149.99 at the time of this writing, with a higher frequency kit costing about as much as DDR4 was during the memory shortage a few years ago. For instance, prices for a 32GB 6000MHz kit with decently tight CL36 timings cost $239.99.
For reference, DDR5 pricing just nine months ago was double these prices at the very least, with high end kits going for upwards of $800-$900. With sources saying prices will rapidly decline again as they did in 2021, we should expect DDR5 prices to continue to slide throughout 2023.
