Memory Price Wars: From Phones to Cars, Supply Chain Friction is the Norm

Recent news from the smartphone industry is pretty interesting: several of China's TOP6 phone makers have explicitly rejected price hike demands from memory suppliers for the coming quarters. It reminds me of last year when our battery team was negotiating with upstream lithium carbonate manufacturers. Back then, lithium prices dropped from 600k per ton to 150k. The suppliers wanted to stabilize prices, but we just held off on signing orders, waiting for the market to correct itself. Bottom line: supply chain games are never a linear "price hike-accept" relationship; it's a hard fight based on inventory, capacity, and tech alternatives.