Time, like an ever-rolling stream, bears all its sons away. It’s unlikely that dual-channel memory was on the mind of the poet when those words were written, but they remain true nonetheless. As the industry shifts towards newer technologies, prolific memory supplier, Samsung, is reportedly finding fewer and fewer buyers for the older DDR3 standard. So, it’s cutting production dramatically, according to industry paper DigiTimes.
With DDR3 on the way out and demand for next-gen DDR5 memory ramping up, the paper reports (via WCCFTech) that Samsung is cutting prices on DDR3 dramatically while also cutting prices for the popular 4GB DDR4 modules. This comes amidst a general market shift towards cheaper memory as demand falls from pandemic highs. The Wall Street Journal reported that in the second quarter of 2022 alone, prices for DRAM fell almost 11% across the board, a dramatic shift even in such a volatile industry.
That being the case, it makes sense for Samsung and other memory suppliers to de-emphasize older, lower-margin DDR3 chips and even scale back production of DDR4 chips as demand evens out. DDR5, while certainly higher in profit margin, has yet to become the industry standard. Using this lull in the market to seek a dominant position as DDR5 becomes more prevalent certainly makes sense, especially if you’re a megacorp with billions of dollars to throw around.
What does this mean for PC enthusiasts? In the short term, rock-bottom prices for current-gen DDR4 memory and DDR5 memory that’s perhaps more affordable than you might think for cutting-edge tech. We can see similar trends in other parts of the PC hardware market, as prices for solid state drives and graphics cards continue to fall after a period of high demand and supply chain woes.
Author: Michael Crider, Staff Writer
Michael is a former graphic designer who's been building and tweaking desktop computers for longer than he cares to admit. His interests include folk music, football, science fiction, and salsa verde, in no particular order.