India Channel Braces for Memory Price Surge as Global Shortage Hits SSD and RAM Supply

India’s IT channel ecosystem is beginning to feel the ripple effects of a global memory shortage that has pushed prices of RAM and SSD components sharply higher, industry sources say. What began as a demand surge driven by AI data centers worldwide is now impacting system integrators, OEM partners, and distributors across India, with storage and memory prices climbing significantly over the past months. Global semiconductor makers have shifted production priorities toward high-bandwidth memory and specialized components for AI infrastructure, tightening the supply of conventional DDR RAM and NAND flash used in PCs and enterprise hardware. This has created broad price volatility with some memory components rising by multiple times their earlier levels affecting pricing strategies at the channel level.

Commenting on the situation from an Indian perspective, Manoj Dhanda, CEO of Utho, said, “We’re already seeing memory prices spike significantly  memory prices are up nearly six times, and SSD/NVMe costs have risen about three-fold over last year’s levels. Given this structural supply shift, vendors across the industry are looking at price increases before April. Only partners with deep inventories — enough to cover six months or more — can afford to hold legacy pricing.”

Dhanda added that the channel needs to prepare customers for inevitable pricing reset conversations, emphasizing transparent communication around the supply-driven cost escalation.  Industry insiders have noted that inventory management and forward bookings are becoming critical, as quotations have increasingly shorter validity windows and spec availability tightens. Channel partners who anticipated the supply constraints have been able to hedge prices, while others face pressure as memory components dominate bill-of-materials costs in both consumer and enterprise systems.

As the global memory market continues balancing AI demand with broader enterprise and consumer needs, India’s IT channel is gearing up for an extended period of pricing adjustments and strategic supply planning.