The explosive growth in artificial intelligence (AI) server investment has triggered a sharp rise in memory semiconductor prices, and the ‘chipflation’ phenomenon \u2014 where chip costs drive up prices beyond smartphones and PCs into home appliances \u2014 is now becoming a reality. Notably, over the past month, the average purchase price of major appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines has surged by 25%, significantly increasing the financial burden on consumers.<\/p>\n
According to market research firm Connectwave Danawa, the average purchase price of home appliances in June rose 25% compared to the previous month. The average actual transaction price for refrigerators surpassed 1.08 million won (approximately $717) for the first time ever, while kimchi refrigerators also climbed to nearly 1.2 million won (approximately $797). The average purchase price of audio-visual products rose 23% month-over-month, and tablet and mobile phone prices increased by 13%.<\/p>\n
At an electronics store in Seoul, AI-equipped refrigerators are now priced in the upper 3 million won to 4 million won range (approximately $1,993 to $2,657), with price tags reflecting increases of 300,000 to 400,000 won (approximately $199 to $266) compared to the beginning of the year. Consumer Roh Jong-ha, who was preparing wedding furnishings, said, “Prices definitely seem higher than when I checked earlier this year.” A sales representative on site also explained, “Rising raw material costs have pushed up material prices overall, and product prices have risen accordingly.”<\/p>\n
At the center of these price increases is the surge in semiconductor prices, particularly memory semiconductors. According to Samsung Electronics’ first-quarter business report, the purchase price of mobile memory semiconductors skyrocketed by a staggering 107% compared to the annual average of last year. As a result, the mobile memory procurement cost for the Device Experience (DX) division, which oversees the smartphone business, reached 1.99 trillion won (approximately $1.3 billion), surpassing the cost of camera module procurement. While cameras and displays were once the core cost drivers for smartphones, memory semiconductors have now emerged as the primary cost factor.<\/p>\n
LG Electronics is under similar pressure. The average price of component semiconductors used in LG’s video equipment business, including TVs, rose 33.1% year-over-year in the first quarter, with related procurement costs also increasing. The company is facing a double whammy as copper prices \u2014 a key raw material for home appliances and HVAC products \u2014 have also risen.<\/p>\n
This cost pressure is already translating into product price increases by global IT companies. Apple recently raised prices significantly across major product lines, including Macs and iPads, citing rising memory and storage device costs. The entry-level MacBook Air price was raised from $1,099 to $1,299, while the base MacBook Pro model was adjusted from $1,699 to $1,999. Overall, Mac product prices rose approximately 15-20%, and iPad prices increased by 15-25%.<\/p>\n
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, unusually expressed strong concern about the component price increases. “I’ve been in this industry for over 40 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said, suggesting that the company has reached a limit where it can no longer absorb component cost burdens internally.<\/p>\n
Experts analyze that the explosive growth in demand for high-performance semiconductors driven by the AI boom, centered on data centers, is causing supply shortages across the memory semiconductor market. Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University, commented, “From a consumer perspective, more advanced features are desirable, but when that leads to higher prices, choices inevitably narrow.” She added, “Amid the broader trend of transitioning to AI-powered appliances, consumer concerns are likely to deepen.”<\/p>\n
Industry observers expect that as long as AI semiconductor demand persists, memory price strength will continue for the foreseeable future. Consequently, the prevailing view is that the upward trajectory of prices for everyday home appliances such as refrigerators, washing machines, and TVs will not easily subside. The semiconductor super cycle is spreading like dominoes from IT devices to home appliances, increasing the burden of essential consumer goods spending on households.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The explosive growth in artificial intelligence (AI) server investment has triggered a sharp rise in memory semiconductor prices,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[621],"tags":[3628,36657,43651,43653,14561,41619,43652,315,357,35318,43654,27800,17116,276,3629,5178],"class_list":["post-81499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lg-electronics","tag-apple","tag-chipflation","tag-connectwave-danawa","tag-device-experience-dx","tag-inha-university","tag-ipad","tag-lee-eun-hee","tag-lg","tag-lg-electronics","tag-macbook-air","tag-macbook-pro","tag-memory-semiconductors","tag-refrigerators","tag-samsung-electronics","tag-tim-cook","tag-washing-machines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}