Memory module prices tumble; 16GB sticks see single-day drops of over RMB 100

Sina News reported that memory module prices have fallen sharply since last week, with mainstream 16GB modules seeing maximum single-day declines of more than RMB 100. Wholesalers largely blamed heavy sell-offs by major inventory holders. After an earlier run-up in prices, market sales have dropped by more than 60% from levels before November last year, and weak demand has added to the liquidation pressure. In a separate development, Google introduced a new compression algorithm, "TurboQuant," claiming it can cut key-value cache memory usage during large language model runtime by at least 60%. The announcement has prompted downward revisions to expectations for AI hardware demand. The Financial Times said the shift in sentiment helped wipe nearly $100 billion off U.S. memory chip stocks' market value this week. Micron Technology shares are down 15% since last Friday, erasing more than $70 billion in market capitalization.