Korean Media: Apple's Request for Price Cut Rejected by Longsys, Samsung and SK Hynix Strengthen DRAM Negotiating Power

August 5th, according to South Korea's Digital Daily report, Apple recently negotiated with YMTC to lower the price of LPDDR5X and other mobile DRAM supplies to reduce the cost of the next-generation iPhone and smart devices. However, YMTC rejected its further price reduction request. YMTC is reportedly insisting on a price close to or even higher than that of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix.

Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi are locking in YMTC's production capacity in advance through high-priced long-term contracts, allowing them to avoid accepting lower prices to compete for Apple's orders. As DRAM supply tightens, the strategy of global end-device manufacturers leveraging China's low-priced components to drive down procurement costs is failing.

With major memory manufacturers shifting more capacity to HBM, the supply of general-purpose DRAM such as DDR5, LPDDR5X is decreasing, leading to sustained price increases for related products. YMTC is absorbing a significant amount of demand for general-purpose DRAM in the Chinese market, also easing the pressure on Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix to clear low-priced products.

Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are focusing their resources on high-value-added AI storage products such as HBM4, LPCAMM2, and enterprise SSDs. In the second half of the year, they are gaining stronger pricing power in long-term price negotiations with major global tech companies.