Recently in the secondhand transaction market, buying and selling DRAM—"ram-tech" (RAM + investment)—has been booming. As semiconductor manufacturers focus on producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and the supply of general-purpose DRAM plunges, "memory inflation," with new-product prices rising overnight, has energized secondhand transactions.
An analysis on the 26th of data from the secondhand transaction platform Joonggonara for the past three months (Nov. 2025–Jan. 2026) found that memory-related transaction volume surged 759.7% from a year earlier. In particular, DDR5 transaction volume jumped 527.4%, and even the older DDR4 rose 322.8%, showing a shortage across generations.
The price surge is even more dramatic. According to the price comparison site DANAWA, the lowest new price for "Samsung Electronics DDR5-5600 (32GB)" as of the day is in the 700,000 won range. Considering it was around 130,000 won in the same month a year earlier, it has jumped more than fivefold in a year. As a result, secondhand products also carry a substantial premium, with secondhand 32GB Samsung Electronics RAM fetching up to 520,000 won in transactions.
On the ground, RAM is no longer seen as just a component. For PC cafe owners who operate hundreds of PCs, RAM is a "core asset" that can be liquidated fastest in a crisis. A source in the Yongsan distribution industry said, "As new-product supply has fallen to about half of normal years, we're even seeing a reversal where secondhand prices threaten new-product launch prices," adding, "Rather than handing over the whole tower, it has become industry practice to pull out only the RAM and conduct partitioning sales when the going rate is high."
Among individual users, "RAM currency arbitrage" is also active. They sell highly liquid Samsung Electronics RAM at the peak to realize a gain, then use that cash to cover system upgrade expenses. A user in a hardware community said, "The cost-performance of the RAM I kept in my desk drawer beats my stock returns," adding, "Until the supply crunch is resolved, RAM is the most reliable safe asset."
The root cause of this phenomenon lies in manufacturers' "selection and concentration" strategy driven by a surge in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. As major manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and SK hynix increase the share of HBM production, general-purpose DRAM such as DDR4 has been pushed to a lower priority.
Experts expect the supplier's market to continue for the time being. Ryu Hyeong-geun, a researcher at Daishin Securities, said, "Even if we conservatively strip out phantom demand, it's an environment where supply can't keep up with demand," projecting that price leadership will continue.
An industry source said, "The current ram-tech craze is a distorted form of investment created by an imbalance in semiconductor supply and demand," adding, "Because prices can swing depending on manufacturers' inventory management policies or the pace of process transitions, investors should be cautious about excessive accumulation beyond real demand."