July 16, several domestic storage manufacturers announced their first-half performance forecasts. In 2026, the company's first-half revenue is expected to reach 150-160 billion yuan, an increase of 283-308% compared to the same period last year. Net profit attributable to the parent company is 70-75 billion yuan, an increase of 3200-3421% compared to the same period last year. On the same day, Dapu Micro also announced its first-half performance forecast, with revenue of 43-48 billion yuan, an increase of 474-543% compared to the same period last year. Net profit attributable to the parent company is 12-13.5 billion yuan, an increase of 439-482% compared to the same period last year. Since the beginning of the month, several storage manufacturers have announced their first-half performance.
The following is a summary: Storage manufacturers have experienced a significant surge in performance, mainly due to the sharp increase in product prices. According to ComputerBase's tracking of the retail prices of memory, HDD, and SSD since September 2025, as of mid-June 2026, the prices have increased as follows: - DDR5 memory prices have risen by 288% cumulatively, with mainstream 32GB DDR5 prices approaching four times the benchmark price, making it the product category with the highest price increase. - HDD mechanical hard drive prices have risen by 107%, with prices doubling compared to the benchmark. - 1TB NVMe SSD prices have risen by 112%, with Kingston's NV3 1TB price increasing from 50 euros in September 2025 to nearly 140 euros. More importantly, industry predictions suggest that memory shortages will continue until the end of 2027, and there is no sign of a price drop. Module manufacturers' "magic": low-priced inventory meets high-priced sales Module manufacturers, who are also in the midst of the price increase cycle, have a more elastic performance than original manufacturers. The answer lies in the inventory account. Taking Jiangbolong as an example, the company's inventory has risen from 116.78 billion yuan at the end of 2025 to 179.6 billion yuan at the end of the first quarter of 2026.
This means that last year's fourth quarter storage prices were low, and domestic module manufacturers had a large-scale low-priced inventory. When the present price of storage skyrocketed this year, these pre-existing low-priced inventory were gradually converted into finished products and delivered, forming a "low-cost base + high sales present value" scissors difference. This is why Jiangbolong's first-half net profit attributable to the parent company has risen from 1.4766 million yuan in the same period last year to 92-110 billion yuan, and Baiti Storage has risen from a loss of 2.26 billion yuan to a profit of 70-75 billion yuan. Module manufacturers can amplify the profit rate of unit inventory to an extreme level in the price increase cycle through high-speed turnover. However, it is worth noting that once storage prices stabilize, the original "high sales price - low cost inventory" scissors difference will be dynamically reduced, and module manufacturers' profits will face a test. The storage industry: how will it evolve in the future? Several companies have mentioned in their performance forecasts that "AI computing power explosion and storage industry high-growth cycle" in unison. What is the high-growth cycle, and how will it evolve in the future.
The continuity of shortages and the pace of capacity expansion According to SEMI data, the global semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales in 2026 are expected to reach 165.9 billion US dollars, an increase of 23.2% compared to the same period last year. By 2028, it is expected to reach 229.5 billion US dollars, indicating that wafer fabs capital expenditure is still increasing. However, it takes 12-18 months for equipment delivery to capacity release, and the actual increase in global storage capacity will not occur until the end of 2027. In the short term, the supply-demand gap cannot be filled by new capacity, and even with the continued high growth of AI demand, the gap will only widen.
The risk of reverse reaction: C-end users are "deterred" by high prices SSD is the only product category among the three that has relatively stabilized prices this month, and the main reason is that high prices have suppressed the upgrade and replacement demand of individual consumers, with the retail SSD market almost disappearing. Morgan Stanley even predicts that the prices of smartphones and PCs in the United States will increase by 15% this year. When the terminal price increase is transmitted to consumers, it will deter consumer demand.
B-end customers will engage in a game with storage manufacturers Cloud services and data centers, which have massive procurement scales, are B-end customers who already have sufficient bargaining chips. If storage prices continue to rise, it is not ruled out that B-end large customers will join forces to negotiate prices, delay non-essential procurement, or adjust the supply chain to find more cost-effective sources.