Top DRAM Manufacturers Touted to End DDR3 & DDR4 Production in 2025

[T0@st]

Inside sources—familiar with goings-ons at leading DRAM manufacturing firms—have predicted the end of DDR3 and DDR4 production lines. According to a DigiTimes Asia report (citing Nikkei), industry observers have noticed that the DRAM market is undergoing a so-called "shift." They believe that pricing trends are decreasing due to weak demand. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron are named as major players; allegedly involved in devising new strategies—in reaction to fluid market circumstances. The DigiTimes insider network proposes that the big three: "may phase out DDR3 and DDR4 by 2025...by the end of 2025...anticipating a future focused on advanced memory technologies." Older standards are falling out of favor, with DDR5 and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) on the ascent. Industry watchdogs reckon that possible DDR3 and DDR4 supply shortages could occur "post-summer 2025."

Taiwan's Nanya Technology has predicted that the overall DRAM market will "bottom out" within the first half of 2025. An eventual recovery is envisioned by the second quarter; AI-related demands could help drive up demand by a large margin. Additionally, Nanya points to improved inventory management and global economic stimulus. Taiwanese DRAM production houses are expected to pick up some slack, but an unnamed "key component distributor" anticipates serious after-effects. An anonymous source believes that the: "anticipated halt in production could lead to significant supply constraints, challenging market dynamics and impacting pricing strategies." Nanya Technology and Winbond Electronics produce specialized DRAM-types; therefore are not touted to be great gap fillers. The latter is reportedly reacting to weak demand for "mature" DDR products—DigiTimes commented on this development: "Winbond Electronics is advancing its manufacturing by transitioning to a 16 nm process in the latter half of 2025. This upgrade from the current 20 nm process, primarily used for 4 Gb DDR3 and DDR4, will enable Winbond to produce 8 Gb DDR memory."




As reported by Tom's Hardware; Changxin Memory Technology (CXMT) and Fujian Jinhua have ramped up DDR4 production and implemented aggressive pricing, thus making it difficult for market leaders to compete. Late last year, the tech news cycle pointed out that Chinese DRAM manufacturers were offering products at half of the price of South Korean-produced equivalents. Constraints, predicted in the second half of 2025, could spell difficult conditions for Chinese DRAM producers. Tom's Hardware believes that: "some industrial customers are unlikely to adopt China-made DRAMs, and are more likely to adopt specialized memory from Nanya and Winbond instead."



TechPowerUp's news feed history contains a small smattering of new DDR4 products—for example; Biostar launched its Storming V DDR4 memory module design last December, and V-COLOR introduced a TUF Gaming Alliance-themed DDR4 Prism Pro model in November. October's cycle had Lexar lining up its THOR OC DDR4 desktop product line for release. Looking through recent-ish history, there is a lot of silence on the DDR3 front. September 2024 TPU reader poll results led to a headline article, titled "DDR4 remains a popular memory standard." 58.2% of participants registered their utilization of DDR4 parts.

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[_roman_]

Are AM4 processors not sold anymore? I had the impression DDR4 is used on am4 mainboards, on high quality NVME and other hardware. No idea yet which kind of DRAM they solder on all of those smartphones and tablets.

 

[Readlight]

Old RAM 16 GB cost 80-40 euro in ebay, AliExpress
USA made products are expensive.
Also impossible to find new CPU coolers for old computers.

 

[hsew]

I’m just shocked that “Top DRAM Manufacturers” are still making DDR3! That puts it over 17 years. That’s nuts!

It’s also crazy to think that DDR4 has been on the market for nearly 11 years, and DDR5 for nearly 5. But AM4 hasn’t seen a new chipset since 2020, and LGA1700 supported both DDR4 and DDR5, so it makes sense for them to wind down production. Heck we’re honestly on the verge of DDR6, unless CUDIMMs somehow prolong the life of DDR5.

I’m still betting on CAMM2 becoming the standard after DDR6 (believe it or not there are already servers running CAMM2 memory modules), and LPCAMM2 replacing SODIMMS after DDR5.

 

[Assimilator]

DDR3 maybe, DDR4 no way considering how popular AM4 still is.

 

[Ruru]

I’m just shocked that “Top DRAM Manufacturers” are still making DDR3! That puts it over 17 years. That’s nuts!

I thought the same first, but then started to think that maybe some industrial computers still use DDR3 hence the long production lifetime.

 

[_roman_]

Some SATA SSDs had DDR3 DRAM I think

 

[persondb]

Are AM4 processors not sold anymore? I had the impression DDR4 is used on am4 mainboards, on high quality NVME and other hardware. No idea yet which kind of DRAM they solder on all of those smartphones and tablets.

Smartphone and tablets is LPDDR4/4X/5. Those manufacturers will likely still have stock for some time after stopping producing them, and there is a whole chain of stockpiles as obviously DIMM manufacturers will also have some stockpile of the memory chips that they use.

Plus obviously all other smaller memory manufacturers that are going to keep producing it, since it's the big three(Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron) that are stopping.

 

[freeagent]

Its fine, they quit making all the good stuff years ago, now what is left is based on mediocrity.

 

[maxli86]

DDR3 at this point of time is impossible to buy brand new.
Even here in SG, even there are brand new DDR3 RAM in shops
which are usually ex-stock.
The prices are really high that people sought to buy second hand instead.
In no way DDR4 should cease since many PCs are still using DDR4.
Whether old or new, AM4 as well as Intel LGA 1700 platform are still during DDR4.
DDR4 PC are usually more cost effective than DDR5 so if you are building/buying
a casual PC.
It's a no brainer not to go for AMD Ryzen 5000 AM4 with DDR4 or Intel LGA 1700
with DDR4.

 

[Wirko]

CXMT will be making old tech chips in big enough numbers and with good enough performance for everyone that still wants them in 2026. Are they more likely to phone home than Western chips?

 

[bonehead123]

Are AM4 processors not sold anymore? I had the impression DDR4 is used on am4 mainboards, on high quality NVME and other hardware. No idea yet which kind of DRAM they solder on all of those smartphones and tablets.

Just curious where you got that impression that DDR4 is only used on AM4 mobo's ?

'Cause last time I looked (about .025ns ago !), every mobo maker has boards that use it....including my 2.5 yr old intel-based mini-me box...

Granted most mfgr's have switched over to DDR5 for more recent models, but there's STILL a buttload of older boards available from most sellers..and plenty of ram to go with them, at least in the US anyways

Now DDR3 otoh, is essentially a dinosaur nowadays, as are the boards that use it, so the ramp-down on it's production is no surprise....

 

[Ruru]

Just curious where you got that impression that DDR4 is only used on AM4 mobo's ?

He probably just meant the overall popularity of AM4 what it comes to DDR4 platforms which is totally understandable.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

The thing is. A lot of embedded solutions still use DDR3 (some still use DDR2!) as they dont require anything better. If they discontinue DDR3 this might bump up the price of embedded systems if they are all rolling with DDR5 now.

 

[Icon Charlie]

I'll be blunt. MORE than 3/4's of the world uses both DDR3 and DDR4. Not everyone lives in the US and/or in Europe.
Total BS.

 

[R-T-B]

I'll be blunt. MORE than 3/4's of the world uses both DDR3 and DDR4. Not everyone lives in the US and/or in Europe.
Total BS.

But how many would buy it if building new?

 

[DaemonForce]

I can see it happening to DDR3 and I'm still hemming over a DDR3-2133 kit that could bring the FX rack from 16 to 32GB.
Is it worth buying? At $35ish, hell yeah. Considering that the last kit was $80 about a year before I built this Ryzen box, GOOD.
Will I ever use more than 8GB on a small 2016 animation/video/SQL production server?

Lol nah. However, tons of these older machines keep getting revived out of the woodwork to do all types of home server jobs.
It wouldn't surprise me if we soon have another memory scavenging situation like the eMachines where all good DDR2 is MIA.
I only run 2x1GB DDR2 in the SFF box and it's more than enough for serving files in the plainest sense: Samba, iSCSI, torrent, DCC...
DDR3 now has three massive edges: Size, speed and price. Unlike the 2009 era of slow and unstable memory kits, it's good enough.
You can afford to run service jobs with it, engines like Unity and Unreal still work with it just fine. Blender and OBS, no problems.
More importantly, many games still work well with it. My first 2 years of VR were carried by a FX/DDR3 system with plenty of memory.
The only things that kill support is time and the end of manufacturing. I can expect DDR3 to be on the chopping block. Had a great run.

Maybe the same turn of events is about to happen to DDR4 but we're just not ready mate. AM4 is still getting made and we like it here.
When I first picked up an -AES (Micron E) kit, it sold out EVERYWHERE. Solid kit, zero inventory anywhere. Instant legend among AHOC.
That 3200 memory kit went EOL so fast and just a year later I had to pick something very similar just to preserve my insane overclock.
Got into it a bit with the Crucial GM (Natasha) just looking for something that worked. She's the best and I'm so spoiled.

Fast af boiii!

They can cut DDR4 production but like my AM2 and AM3+ stuff TONS of these AM4 systems worldwide will actually stand the test of time.
You would think something exciting on DDR5 must have happened to get all this to kick off but so far I don't see anything. Forced migration?

 

[Chaitanya]

The thing is. A lot of embedded solutions still use DDR3 (some still use DDR2!) as they dont require anything better. If they discontinue DDR3 this might bump up the price of embedded systems if they are all rolling with DDR5 now.

There has been a slow shift towards DDR5 in those systems as well over last 1-2 years.

 

[AusWolf]

I thought DDR3 production had already finished.

 

[_roman_]

'Cause last time I looked (about .025ns ago !), every mobo maker has boards that use it....including my 2.5 yr old intel-based mini-me box...

Yes of course. Some but not all intel 12, 13, 14 gen cpu based mainboards still use DDR4. I wonder how long until intel declares it obsolete - END OF LIFE = EOL

 

[iameatingjam]

I wouldn't panic. You can still buy ddr1 ram for reasonable prices, same with ddr2 and 3. Might not be top of the line with fancy heatsinks.... but there will continue to be ddr4 to buy for quite a long time I wager.

 

[Chomiq]

The thing is. A lot of embedded solutions still use DDR3 (some still use DDR2!) as they dont require anything better. If they discontinue DDR3 this might bump up the price of embedded systems if they are all rolling with DDR5 now.

I think the plan here is to prepare for shift to DDR6 (scheduled for late 2025, early 2026).

 

[papas12]

DDR3 at this point of time is impossible to buy brand new.
Even here in SG, even there are brand new DDR3 RAM in shops
which are usually ex-stock.
The prices are really high that people sought to buy second hand instead.

Here in Bulgaria you can still buy Silicon Power 8 GB DDR3-1600 11-11-11-28 DIMM 1.5V brand new in a plastic case and with a 5-year warranty from a major PC parts retailer for around 10-11 euros a piece. Is it the best DDR3? No. Is it the fastest DDR3? No. But is it a steal? Hell, yeah! A few months ago I bought 4 pieces of this memory to upgrade my existing AM3+ machines and I could not be happier. This same retailer also has the same Silicon Power memory at 1.35V (DDR3L) for around 1 euro more if you are into this and also Team Group Elite 8 GB DDR3-1600 for another 1 euro more. So you can still find new DDR3 but I guess this depends on where you are located and if you have major problems with this you can also use some famous Chinese online stores if you know what I mean but I am not a fan of Chinese memory and although I have Chinese DDR3 at home and it works I would not recommend it.

 

[Wirko]

There has been a slow shift towards DDR5 in those systems as well over last 1-2 years.

Indeed it would be very strange for a phone, router, printer, industrial computer or SSD launched in 2024 (let alone 2025) to use DDR3. Maybe other classes of products that I can't think of right now - but which ones?

I think the plan here is to prepare for shift to DDR6 (scheduled for late 2025, early 2026).

That's questionable at best. Speed, density, power consumption can only improve and advance at a slow pace with current chip manufacturing tech. Transition to a new type of data bus and narrower channels won't help a whole lot. And DDR5 hasn't stopped evolving, there's a transition to MRDIMM in progress (for servers), with speeds up to 10000, maybe even 12800 in the last iteration.

 

[Icon Charlie]

But how many would buy it if building new?

DDR 4 a great deal of people use it in the Asia region. The AM4 platform is extemely popular over there.
DDR3 still in the US it is used in embedded hardware.

For 5 years I've been warning people what tech companies are doing. I have been bitching and rightly so that the consumers are getting shafted. Not only in the quality of components but in performance vs price.

Consumers are only buying "the name brand" and more or less getting refreshes of the previous generations.

Nothing new.

I'll put it to you this way. I used to build brand new rig fully every 2 years, because the tech and the price made a difference.

I'm going to hold out for another 2 or so years before upgrading because the performance for the price is just not there.

My current rig is 6 years old.