Memory prices are being paid by the people who buy phones and computers. China’s shop prices for data storage devices rose 45.4% on a year in October, and the world’s smartphone buyers paid a record US$442 on average while shipments fell 19%.

Memory suppliers’ revenue rose 298% in the September quarter while their data center customers grew 19%. On November 3, voters favored limits on data centers in 40 of 41 local ballot measures.

Growth narrows at each step down the electronics supply chain: 71% at chips, 42% at assembly, 22% at boards and 9% at materials in 2Q’26. The materials tier is now starting to catch up.