TrendForce reported on December 1 that NAND Flash wafer supply tightened sharply in November as AI workloads and enterprise SSD orders continued to drive sustained demand. The firm said suppliers have prioritized capacity for higher-margin enterprise and premium products while stepping back from older manufacturing nodes. That shift has reduced the available pool of mainstream wafers and pushed monthly contract prices up by 20% and more than 60% across all major product categories.
The steepest increases landed with TLC. TrendForce noted that 1Tb TLC remained in short supply through November because enterprise SSD demand has not eased, and the firm described its average contract-price rise as “sharp.” The fastest phase-out of legacy process nodes affected the 512Gb TLC segment, which experienced the largest jump of the month with an increase of more than 65%. TrendForce added that 256Gb TLC also saw renewed pressure as further legacy-node shutdowns reduced inventory and aggravated an already tight market.
