Trendforce reports that major international NAND flash manufacturers are cutting back or fully halting production of MLC NAND flash and redirecting capital and R&D investments toward more advanced process technologies. As a result, the worldwide MLC NAND flash capacity is expected to decrease by 41.7% YOY in 2026, leading to increased supply-demand discrepancies. This rapid shift in focus is reshaping the supply landscape for legacy MLC products and constraining availability for existing customers.
The steep decline in MLC NAND flash supply is driven primarily by Samsung, which was previously the largest supplier in this segment. Samsung announced in March 2025 that its MLC NAND products would reach end of life, with final shipments in June 2026. Other key players, including Kioxia, SK hynix, and Micron, have also scaled back, limiting their MLC production mainly to fulfilling existing customer demand and showing little motivation to expand capacity.
As overall supply contracted quickly and no large, rapidly ramping replacement capacity emerged, the MLC NAND flash market saw a surge in pull-in demand. From late 1Q25, customers moved to secure early volume commitments in anticipation of tightening supply, causing prices to rise sharply and maintain this upward trend. With MLC NAND flash increasingly treated as a niche product line by major suppliers, buyers are being pushed to lock in supply earlier and absorb higher pricing in a structurally constrained market.
