Surplus IT market · September 2026
Server RAM and NVMe resale benchmarks: pricing retired memory before you scrap it
Two years of AI build-out have turned commodity memory and storage into the tightest part of the supply chain. That is now visible in ordinary enterprise price data — and it is the same data you need in order to argue about what a retired rack is worth. Here is the public benchmark set, with dates, plus where our own reading ends and the sources begin.
FACT panel — what the published numbers say
- FACT: IDC data reported 2026-09-14: the worldwide external OEM enterprise storage systems (ESS) market reached US$10.3 billion in vendor revenue in 2Q26, +33.6% year over year (from $7.7B in 2Q25). That is the second-highest quarter in the tracker's history and the highest ever recorded outside a fourth-quarter period. All-flash arrays were $5.4B (+42.9% YoY, 52.1% of revenue); hybrid arrays $3.9B (+25.5%); all-HDD arrays $1.1B (+22.6%). High-end systems above a $250,000 average selling price surged 90.6% YoY to $2.7B.
- FACT: The same IDC reporting states the root cause is component supply: NAND and DRAM capacity is being prioritised toward higher-margin memory products, with SSD pricing "particularly affected," and IDC does not expect "any meaningful relief before 2028." Customers are buying storage earlier, "able to buy less storage capacity while paying more."
- FACT: Chosun Biz, citing Nikkei (published 2026-09-11): in 1Q26, revenue per wafer for DDR5 64GB RDIMM surpassed HBM, and profitability of the commodity part also exceeded HBM. HBM prices are negotiated annually with key customers, so they did not immediately reflect the commodity DRAM surge since the second half of last year.
- FACT: Memory makers' margins, per the same reporting (2Q26, or the closest reported quarter): CXMT 82%, Micron 80%, SK hynix 76%, SanDisk 78%, Kioxia 74%, Samsung semiconductor division 70%. CXMT's second-quarter sales were roughly 10x the year-earlier figure; it listed on Shanghai's STAR Market on 2026-07-27.
- FACT: Invezz (published 2026-09-14 08:36) reported memory is now roughly 50–55% of semiconductor-industry revenue, versus a historical range of 20–30% (analyst estimate via MarketWatch); that KB Securities puts finished memory inventories at Samsung and SK hynix below 10 days; and that Bernstein forecasts conventional DRAM and NAND contract prices could rise nearly 20% quarter over quarter in 3Q26.
- FACT: The same Invezz piece notes Goldman Sachs tech-conference commentary that data-centre demand has grown to more than half of the NAND market, and that on Monday 2026-09-14 memory names sold off on AI-slowdown fears (Micron and SanDisk down >5% premarket; SK hynix −7.4%) even though no hyperscaler has announced a material capex cut.
All facts above are as published by the linked sources on the dates shown. This site did not commission or verify the underlying data.
The benchmark set: what "these parts are worth money" actually means
Our previous insight argued that a retired server is a bundle of assets, not one asset. This piece is the follow-up the site needed: the public reference points that justify pricing RAM modules and SSDs as inventory rather than as weight.
| Benchmark (public, dated) | Published number | What it tells you about retired hardware |
|---|---|---|
| Enterprise storage systems revenue, 2Q26 (IDC via IT-Online, 2026-09-14) | $10.3B, +33.6% YoY; AFA +42.9% | Demand is not scarce — supply is. Pulled enterprise SSDs sit on the expensive side of that imbalance. |
| High-end systems >$250,000 ASP, 2Q26 (IDC, 2026-09-14) | +90.6% YoY to $2.7B | The biggest growth is at the top of the market, exactly where decommissioned high-end arrays and the drives inside them come from. |
| DDR5 64GB RDIMM revenue per wafer vs HBM, 1Q26 (Nikkei via Chosun Biz, 2026-09-11) | RDIMM surpassed HBM | For the first time in this cycle, ordinary server memory — the exact module type pulled from retired racks — is the better business. |
| Memory inventories at Samsung / SK hynix, 3Q26 (KB Securities via Invezz, 2026-09-14) | Below 10 days of supply | Buyers of working second-hand modules have nowhere else to go. That is a seller's condition, not a glut. |
| DRAM / NAND contract price direction, 3Q26 (Bernstein via Invezz, 2026-09-14) | Up nearly 20% QoQ forecast | Do not assume today's quote holds. Price the load against the current quarter and date it. |
| Component supply relief (IDC via IT-Online, 2026-09-14) | No meaningful relief before 2028 | This is a multi-quarter condition, not a spike. It changes the right decision on slow-moving surplus. |
Why the "AI slowdown" headline does not change the scrap-vs-value call
On 2026-09-14 memory equities sold off hard on AI-safety and capex-slowdown worries while prices and inventories said the opposite. That mismatch matters to an ITAD decision for one reason: it separates share price from part price. A softer memory stock does not make a working DDR5 RDIMM worthless on your loading dock, and it does not change what a buyer will pay for a tested enterprise NVMe drive this quarter. The sell-off was reported as pricing a slowdown "that has not happened" — no major hyperscaler has announced a material capex reduction.
So treat equity volatility as context, and treat the dated component benchmarks above as the pricing reference — then re-check both before you sign anything.
OUR READ (opinion, not a fact claim)
Our read: in this market the correct unit of account is the part number. A 2U server sold by weight is priced on steel and copper; the same box inventoried by RDIMM part number and SSD model is priced on the tightest component market in a decade. Any quote that collapses those two into one number is not a valuation, it is a disposal fee with a smile.
Our read: the AI headline risk cuts the other way for sellers of used parts. If capex does slow, new-build buyers still need capacity now, and the documented inventory position (under 10 days at two of the largest makers) means second-hand supply gets bid on before it gets discounted. If capex does not slow, you are selling into a rising market. Both branches argue for inventorying and testing before scrapping, not for speed.
Our read: a single-glance rule for the walk-through. Anything that powers on, holds its part number legibly, and passes a sanitisation with documentation is a candidate for resale review. Anything that does not is scrap — and should be quoted as scrap, separately, with its own line item.
Our read is this site's judgement. It is not a price, a guarantee, or a valuation of any specific load.
Pre-decommissioning checklist (use before the truck arrives)
- Inventory by part number — memory RDIMM part numbers and SSD models, not "servers, qty 40." This is the entire value story above converted into paperwork.
- Separate the data-bearing assets first — drives that will be sanitised versus drives that will be destroyed. Two different disposition paths, two different lines on the quote. For internal guidance, review NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1 media-sanitisation levels.
- Test, and record the test — power-on, capacity-reported, hours/health where the tool exposes them. A tested drive is resale inventory; an untested one is a promise someone else has to underwrite.
- Date every price you are given — with contract prices forecast to move ~20% quarter over quarter, a quote without a date is unfalsifiable. Ask what quarter it reflects.
- Ask for two numbers, not one — a resale-review line and a true-scrap line, itemised. One blended number hides which half of the load is being subsidised.
- Confirm downstream disposition per load — R2 / e-Stewards status and data-destruction documentation confirmed for this shipment, not claimed in general. Independent locators: SERI R2 facilities, e-Stewards, EPA.
- Photograph the load as shipped — part-number labels and serials, per pallet. It is the cheapest insurance you will take out all quarter.
Show us the inventory — we will tell you what we can review
Servers, storage arrays, RDIMM modules, enterprise NVMe and SATA drives, network gear, boards, surplus components. Send the list; scope, logistics, data handling and pricing are confirmed in a written quote, load by load.
Submit a load for quote →· IT-Online, "Memory shortage drives external enterprise revenue up" (2026-09-14 09:12), reporting IDC Worldwide Quarterly Enterprise Storage Systems Tracker: it-online.co.za
· Invezz, "Why Micron, SanDisk and SK Hynix are suddenly at the centre of the AI selloff" (2026-09-14 08:36): invezz.com
· Chosun Biz, "China's CXMT posts record margin as HBM shift lifts commodity DRAM prices" (2026-09-11 09:14), citing Nikkei and TrendForce: biz.chosun.com
· Reference standard: NIST SP 800-88 Rev. 1, Guidelines for Media Sanitization: csrc.nist.gov
Global E-Waste Recovery reviews commercial ITAD, e-waste and data destruction inquiries. Submitting an inquiry does not create a contract; scope, logistics, certification and pricing are confirmed in a written quote. This article publishes dated third-party market data for context. It is not a valuation of any specific load, and no price, buyer or outcome is guaranteed.