Colossal DRAM prices are reaching China's spot market, prompting a viral comparison on social media after it emerged that a standard shipping carton of server memory now costs more than some real estate properties in Shanghai. In China’s spot market, vendors are quoting prices that put a box of 100 high-capacity DDR5 server memory modules at roughly 5 million yuan, a sum that easily rivals or exceeds the value of many apartments for sale in Shanghai, according to recent reporting by the South China Morning Post.
The math behind this concerns 256GB DDR5 server modules from Samsung and SK hynix, which, according to figures cited by Chinese outlet Jiemian, have climbed beyond 40,000 yuan ($5,700) for individual sticks, with some listings reaching as high as 49,999 yuan. At those levels, a wholesale carton quickly crosses seven figures in U.S. dollar terms, effectively turning what was once bog-standard inventory into a serious asset.
Notably, these prices don’t seem to be being met by equally strong demand. Merchants operating in Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei electronics market told the SCMP that while quotes have surged, buyers are increasingly reluctant to commit. One vendor described the recent increases as "totally outrageous," saying customers are backing away rather than chasing supply. Another summed up the mood more bluntly, pointing to "high asking prices, but no buyers."
Huaqiangbei plays a peculiar role in China’s semiconductor ecosystem. It sits between official contract channels and the gray or secondary market, where pricing can move quickly in response to shortages or sudden shifts in availability. That makes it a useful early indicator of stress, but also a place where prices can detach sharply from underlying demand. In this case, traders say the fear of being caught with extremely expensive inventory is freezing activity.
The global memory industry has swung from oversupply to constraint, with industry forecasts published late last year pointing to steep increases in DRAM contract prices in early 2026, driven by suppliers reallocating capacity toward server and high-bandwidth memory for AI workloads. Conventional DRAM output has tightened as a result, even in segments where end demand has not fully recovered.
China’s domestic memory ambitions do little to ease near-term pressure. While local producers are expanding and preparing new financing rounds, they remain small compared to the established Korean suppliers that dominate high-capacity server DRAM. For now, that leaves China’s market exposed to global supply decisions and prone to sudden price spikes.
The result is something of a paradox playing out in real time. Memory has become extraordinarily expensive on paper, expensive enough to be likened to property, yet that very expense is suppressing real demand. In Shenzhen, memory consignments may be worth an apartment, but they are seemingly much more difficult to sell.
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Luke James is a freelance writer and journalist. Although his background is in legal, he has a personal interest in all things tech, especially hardware and microelectronics, and anything regulatory.
