Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance Seek Long-Term DRAM Contracts with Samsung and SK Hynix
nashnova research
Alibaba, Tencent, and ByteDance are approaching Samsung and SK Hynix to lock in server-memory supply for up to ten years — but U.S. tech giants have already secured roughly 80% of planned capacity, leaving a narrowing window.
Ten-year contracts — why twice the industry norm?
Standard memory supply deals run three to five years. The Chinese cloud providers are proposing terms as long as ten years, through 2035.
This means → these firms see AI-datacenter memory demand not as a short-term spike but as structural growth lasting at least a decade.
The backdrop: China has built over 24 GW of AI-datacenter capacity — second only to the U.S. at 56 GW, per a September SemiAnalysis report — with another ~20 GW under construction or in planning.
How much capacity have U.S. giants already locked up?
Samsung has signed contracts with five major datacenter clients — believed to be AWS, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Meta, and Oracle — and is negotiating with five more.
KB Securities research head Kim Dong-won said roughly 80% of Samsung's planned memory output for 2027 is already committed under long-term deals; the remaining ~20% is still being contested.
Micron disclosed 26 strategic customer agreements with cumulative financial commitments — mostly cash prepayments — of $32 billion, projected to cover over 35% of its revenue through 2030.
Why is LPDDR also being fought over?
LPDDR — a low-power, low-heat memory originally designed for smartphones — is now being adopted at scale in AI servers to improve datacenter power efficiency.
In plain terms = smartphone makers and server builders are now competing for the same supply pool, intensifying the squeeze.
Daishin Securities forecasts that server vendors will pay near server-grade memory prices to secure LPDDR supply. This means → overall memory prices are set to keep rising.
How much window do Chinese cloud firms still have?
Industry estimates suggest 70–80% of Samsung's and SK Hynix's planned output next year will be covered by five-year contracts with global tech giants.
Among the Magnificent 7, only Apple has yet to sign a long-term deal; the industry expects it to do so before year-end.
This means → whether Chinese cloud providers can lock in supply from the remaining ~20% of uncommitted capacity will directly set the pace of their AI-datacenter buildout — and act as a key variable for memory pricing.
市场有风险，内容仅供研究参考，不构成投资建议。