Price Pressure Builds Across Passive Components and Semiconductor Materials

Cost Pressures Intensify as Price Increases Signal a Prolonged Market Adjustment

1. Passive Components Lead the Price Increase Cycle

On January 16, 2026, global passive component leader Yageo officially announced a price increase of 15%–20% on selected resistor products, effective February 1, 2026. The adjustment covers mainstream chip resistor series including RC0402 and RC0603.

According to Yageo, the price increase is primarily driven by a combination of factors:

Rising manufacturing costs across chip-related product lines

Sharp increases in the prices of precious metals such as silver, ruthenium, and palladium

Ongoing cost pressure from raw materials and energy inputs

This move follows a similar announcement made in November 2025 by Fenghua Advanced Technology, which raised prices on varistors and thick-film resistors, indicating that cost pressure across the passive component supply chain has become structural rather than temporary.

Industry analysts widely agree that silver price volatility remains the key driver behind the current surge in passive component costs. Should upstream materials such as silver paste and copper paste follow the same upward trajectory, a cascading cost transmission effect across the supply chain is likely, further undermining price stability for resistors and capacitors.

2. Semiconductor Base Materials See Aggressive Adjustments

Cost pressure is not limited to passive components. Semiconductor base materials are now experiencing a synchronized price increase.

On January 19, Japanese materials supplier Resonac announced that, due to tight supply and rising prices of copper foil and fiberglass cloth, combined with increased labor and logistics costs, it will implement a price increase of more than 30% on its entire range of copper-clad laminates (CCL) and bonding sheets, effective March 1, 2026.

Copper-clad laminates are critical materials for chip substrates and printed circuit boards (PCBs) and are widely used in AI processors, servers, and data center infrastructure. Resonac projects that its target market will expand from USD 117 billion in 2024 to USD 344 billion by 2028, representing a 31% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Against this backdrop, pricing strategies at the materials level are being reset earlier in the cycle.

3. Memory Market Enters a “Super Cycle”

Among all semiconductor categories, memory devices have been the first to enter a full-scale price upcycle.

Beginning in Q2 2025, several memory manufacturers started phasing out legacy DRAM products such as LPDDR4X and DDR4, resulting in tightening supply. As server and data center demand surged in the fourth quarter, a growing portion of fabrication capacity was redirected toward higher-margin server-grade products, further exacerbating shortages in the consumer market.

According to CFM Flash Market data:

DRAM prices surged by 386% year-on-year in 2025

NAND Flash prices increased by 207% over the same period

Entering early 2026, server-grade DRAM experienced another round of sharp price increases, typically ranging from 60% to 70%. Price divergence across specifications has become increasingly pronounced. Notably, DDR4 contract prices are expected to rise by approximately 90% in Q1 2026, temporarily outpacing DDR5 in percentage terms.

4. Market Outlook: Price Momentum Likely to Extend Through 2026

Market consensus suggests that the current price surge is unlikely to be short-lived. The combined effects of:

Sustained server and AI-driven demand

Capacity locking and strategic product line transitions by manufacturers

Long-term supply-side discipline

are creating a pricing dynamic with clear medium- to long-term characteristics.

Analysts increasingly view this wave of price increases not as a short-term supply shock, but as a cycle-level revaluation of semiconductor and electronic component pricing. The impact is expected to persist throughout 2026, with gradual spillover effects into a broader range of components and materials.