Bearish rumors about NAND flash memory have been circulating this week, especially out of China, centered on weak QLC (a lower-cost, higher-density flash type) pricing negotiations. Chip-industry analyst Jukan pushed back on X, arguing the pessimism reads too much into normal contract dynamics. The trigger was reports that SanDisk signed a long-term agreement (LTA) with Meta at roughly $0.38 per unit, well below an initial quote near $0.50 and close to the price of TLC, a higher-margin flash type. Jukan said this is not surprising: SanDisk is the most aggressive NAND maker in locking in LTAs and plans to commit more than half its total volume to them, so it is naturally willing to price below the prevailing quarterly contract rate to secure that volume. He added that Chinese module makers were turned away when they tried to sell more enterprise SSDs to Chinese cloud providers, but that is because those providers already buy directly from YMTC, not because demand is weak. Reports that hyperscalers are pushing back on QLC drive pricing also do not worry him, since he believes neoclouds have enough demand to absorb any leftover volume. With memory stocks selling off, he said the bearish headlines are gaining more traction than they deserve, and he remains bullish on memory.
Why it matters · It's a data-backed rebuttal to spreading NAND bear-case rumors, arguing pricing dynamics reflect deliberate LTA strategy rather than weakening AI-driven memory demand.
Worth asking · Is the NAND pricing dip just LTA strategy, or an early sign AI-driven memory demand is cooling?