For the first time in the memory supercycle, device makers are starting to push back on higher prices. Chinese media are reporting a curious signal from the smartphone side of the memory supercycle. Xiaomi, which had already cut its shipment target twice this year because of scarce and pricier memory chips, is now raising shipments of its low- and mid-range phones. Jukan reads that as resistance from the downstream buyers, the phone makers themselves, finally becoming visible: OPPO and vivo reportedly rejected Samsung Electronics' proposed third-quarter price increase, even though the ask was smaller than the hikes in the prior two quarters. For a year where DRAM and NAND makers have enjoyed near-unchallenged pricing power, phone makers refusing to eat another round of cost increases is the first visible pushback from buyers who actually build and sell the end product. That doesn't mean prices are about to fall: industry sources quoted in the same report say the underlying memory shortage isn't easing anytime soon, so this reads more like resistance than reversal. But it's exactly the kind of friction that shows up before a pricing cycle tops out, and Samsung and SK Hynix, both riding record memory profits into their next quarters, are the two Korean names most exposed if downstream tolerance for higher prices is closer to its ceiling than the market currently assumes.
Why it matters · Downstream phone makers pushing back on Samsung's next price hike is the first visible sign of resistance in a pricing cycle that memory makers have controlled all year.
Worth asking · Is this downstream pushback the first crack in the memory supercycle's pricing power, or just normal friction that fades once the shortage bites again?