By the end of March 2026, the DRAM memory market had cooled down. The storage chips, once hailed as the “electronic Maotai” and mythologized due to AI demand, had come down from their pedestal amid a reversal in supply and demand and the bursting of the speculative bubble.
However, at the other end of the industrial chain, high-end connectors, which are also at the core of AI computing power, not only maintained their firm prices but even saw their delivery times further extended.
When the “disguise” of cyclical products was exposed, who would be the true hard currency in the electronics industry?
01
From “Electronic Maotai” to a Selling Stampede: Why Has the Logic of Memory Collapsed?
Not long ago, DRAM memory was hailed by the industry as the “electronic Moutai”. With the three major characteristics of highly concentrated supply, extremely difficult capacity expansion, and the explosive demand from AI, memory once became the hardest “currency” in the electronics industry chain. Its price even deviated from the attributes of electronic components and took on a strong flavor of financial leverage.
However, recently, this logic of price hikes has instantly collapsed. According to the China Business Journal, taking Corsair’s Vengeance series DDR5 memory with a 32GB capacity and a maximum frequency of 6400MHz as an example, its current price is approximately $379.99, a drop of over $110 from the recent peak of $490.
Many merchants have been joking, “We lost the down payment for a house in just three days, spent 1.2 million on memory sticks, but now we only have a fraction left!” “We went all in before the New Year, and now we regret it.” Some consumers have said, “Let’s wait a bit longer until the price drops even more sharply!”
The consumer DRAM market has witnessed a cliff-like price drop, which is the combined result of a mismatch between supply and demand in the market and the backfire of hoarding mentality.
The cooling of terminal demand: Due to the excessive price increase in the early stage, it has severely suppressed the non-essential DIY computer assembly and notebook replacement demands. “Compared with before November last year, our sales have dropped by more than 60%,” a channel dealer boss disclosed. The high prices have kept ordinary consumers at bay, and the market’s absorption capacity has shrunk extremely.
The panic selling by outsiders: During the peak of the price surge last year, a large amount of capital from outside the industry rushed in to hoard goods for future gains. However, with the large-scale release of capacity from the second phase of Changxin Storage and others, the balance between supply and demand quickly reversed. When prices started to fall, these speculative inventories rapidly turned into panic selling, creating a negative cycle of “the more it drops, the more it is sold”, and the channel prices even fell below the cost line of the original manufacturers.
The “dimensional reduction strike” on the algorithmic side: The last straw that broke the camel’s back came from a breakthrough in software. Google’s newly released “TurboQuant” compression algorithm can reduce the memory usage of key-value cache (KVCache) during the operation of large models by at least 60%. This means that the same computing power tasks have a significantly reduced reliance on physical memory capacity. This technological negative impact directly triggered severe fluctuations in the stock prices of the storage sector and the spot market.
It has been proven that memory is essentially a highly cyclical standardized commodity. Its “hard currency” attribute exists during the upward phase of supply and demand mismatch. Once there is a breakthrough in manufacturing processes or algorithm optimization, the price bubble is highly likely to burst.
02
In-depth Review: What Makes High-End Connectors Maintain Their Value in a Bear Market?
(1)
Compared with the “financial attributes” of memory, the resilience demonstrated by high-end connectors stems from their extremely high physical barriers and certification thresholds.
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Technology and Certification:
The Unsurmountable “Time Barrier”
The barrier for memory lies in the expensive manufacturing equipment, while for high-end connectors, it is the “Know-how”. The development of 112G/224G high-speed backplane connectors and large current interfaces dedicated to AI servers involves micron-level contact resistance control and SI (signal integrity) simulation under complex electromagnetic environments. More crucially, entering the supply chains of NVIDIA, Tesla, or leading cloud service providers requires going through a long and rigorous validation process. This “non-standard customization + deep binding” model ensures that it will not experience the disorderly expansion and price-cutting competition seen in the memory industry.
(2)
Demand anchor points:
Shift from “consumption-driven” to “computing power/energy-driven”
Memory is deeply bound to mobile phones and PCs and is greatly affected by macroeconomic fluctuations. However, the main battlefield for high-end connectors lies in AI computing centers and the 800V high-voltage platforms of new energy.
The usage of single-machine connectors in AI servers is 3 to 5 times that of traditional servers. With the popularization of architectures like GB200, copper interconnects have demonstrated irreplaceability within the cabinet due to their extremely low power consumption and cost advantages.
Under the 800V architecture for new energy vehicles, the requirements for connectors in terms of insulation, temperature rise and shielding have increased geometrically, and the average selling price (ASP) per vehicle continues to rise.
(3)
Pricing Mechanism:
Long-term Contracts for Stability vs. Volatility in Spot Market
Memory has an active secondary spot market where prices are highly susceptible to speculation. In contrast, high-end connectors are mainly sold through direct sales and long-term contracts, maintaining an extremely stable price system. In the industry research conducted in 2026, the high-speed products of giants like TE and Amphenol not only did not decrease in price, but some in short supply even saw a premium of 3% to 8%.
03
The price drop of memory
has instead become a “fuel” for high-end connectors.
The industrial logic is not simply a matter of rising and falling together. In fact, the decline in memory costs is benefiting connector manufacturers in three dimensions:
Accelerating generational upgrade: The price drop of memory has cleared the last obstacle for the popularization of DDR5. The global server DDR5 penetration rate is expected to exceed 85% in 2026. The DDR5 interface connector has higher requirements for transmission rate, and its unit price is about 40% higher than that of DDR4. This “generational upgrade” is a definite profit source for the connector industry.
Optimizing the BOM cost of computing power: The storage cost accounts for an extremely high proportion of the BOM (Bill of Materials) of AI servers. The decline in memory prices can effectively offset the high cost of GPUs, driving cloud service providers to accelerate large-scale deployment. For every 1% increase in server shipments, it corresponds to the demand for tens of thousands of high-speed backplane connectors.
Market scarcity differentiation: This round of sharp decline mainly hit consumer-grade DRAM, while the high-end connectors in the AI server and automotive electronics sectors remain in short supply. This contrast enables the market to identify which assets are truly defensive.
04
Who is sharing the dividends?
Three beneficiary camps
After the “electronic Moutai” myth collapsed, funds and orders are now gathering at leading connector enterprises with solid strength.
Global leaders: TE, Amphenol, etc. With the first-mover advantage in AI high-speed interconnection and 48V high-current power connectors, they are reaping the most generous dividends from the global expansion of AI clusters.
Domestic Breakthrough Leaders: Represented by AVIC Optoelectronics and Luxshare Precision Industry, these domestic leaders have achieved breakthroughs in 112G high-speed backplanes and 224G PAM4 technology paths, and have occupied significant shares in the global computing power supply chain.
“Champions” in niche markets: Specialized and innovative enterprises focusing on DDR5 memory slots and automated production line connectors. As the storage density of servers increases, the growth potential of these niche interfaces is also considerable.
05
Cyclical ebb, value return
From this round of market fluctuations, it is not difficult to find that:
Memory is a cyclical product, and what matters is the “trend” of supply and demand competition; high-end connectors are growth products, and what matters is the “quality” of technological accumulation.
When the tide recedes, it is those high-end connectors hidden deep within the cabinets, enduring tests of micron-level accuracy and having extremely high entry barriers, that truly take over the baton of “electronic Moutai”.
The key to success or failure in the electronics industry in the future does not lie in predicting the cycle, but in who can hold the irreplaceable connection point at the physical limit of technological iteration.