Samsung, Micron and SK hynix began throttling DDR4 production last year to make room for newer tech like DDR5 and HBM. By now, customers have been properly warned about the squeeze and it is biting hard. Spot prices and contract quotes for DDR4 are both climbing sharply, with the industry expecting even more bullishness through the back half of the year.

Nanya Technology, normally the cautious type, has jumped on the bandwagon. The firm raised DDR4 prices by 11 to 16 per cent from 1 August depending on the client. Supply chain sources say the move is a prelude to more double digit hikes in the fourth quarter.

This sudden aggression is paying off. Nanya’s July revenue hit 5.352 billion New Taiwan dollars (€153 million), its best monthly haul in three and a half years.

That is a 31.4 per cent jump from June and a 94 per cent rise year on year. Cumulative sales for the first seven months have already topped last year’s, climbing 4 per cent and setting a three year high.

Despite nine straight quarters of losses thanks largely to falling demand in China’s consumer tech market, Nanya is finally seeing daylight. The company’s bloated inventory, worth more than 300 billion New Taiwan dollars (€8.6 billion), is suddenly valuable again as DDR4 prices tick up month by month.

Analysts reckon the global DDR4 supply gap now sits between 10 and 15 per cent. Demand still far outstrips what the fabs are pushing out and that imbalance looks likely to continue. Even with the major players still trickling out DDR4, Nanya’s aggressive pricing is putting it in a strong position.

Smaller outfits like ADATA, Etron and Transcend are hitching a ride on the rising price curve, hoping to scrape some margin from what is shaping up to be the last profitable gasp of DDR4.