Samsung locks up to 70% of memory chip supply for long-term agreements until 2031

The memory chip market shows no signs of cooling down any time soon. Samsung is among the three top global players in the market, and all of them have pivoted to long-term agreements in order to sustain higher margins over the coming years.

A new report out of South Korea claims that Samsung has locked up to 70% of its memory chip supply for long-term agreements that run through 2031.

Memory has historically been a cyclical market. Prices rise significantly when supply is constrained but crash hard once supply improves. This meant that memory chip companies couldn't sustain the higher margins delivered by peak prices over a longer period.

AI demand has fundamentally altered the dynamics of the market. Demand continues to skyrocket and there isn't going to be enough supply, at least for a few years. Memory makers are expanding production of higher margin HBM chips for AI over commodity DRAM, which is pushing prices even higher.

They're also signing long-term agreements at the prevailing peak prices with rigid price floors which will ensure that they keep healthy margins even if the prices were to come down significantly in the coming years.

These agreements thus require them to lock up supply so that they can meet their commitments. Samsung has reportedly allocated 70% of its memory production capacity for supply under the long-term agreements it has with the likes of NVIDIA and Microsoft until 2031.

This means fewer chips to meet supply needs in the short term, which will only push prices higher for everyone, even for end consumers who are already seeing price hikes for mobile devices, computers, consoles, and more.