Phison demands prepayments as NAND prices surge 500%

NAND flash prices surging close to 500% in six months are forcing Phison to demand prepayments or faster settlements from its customers.

Why Phison is changing payment terms

• Phison Electronics sent customers a letter requesting prepayment or shortened payment windows.
• AI-driven infrastructure demand is blamed for the massive NAND cost spike.
• Securing memory supply upfront shifts financing risk away from the supplier.
• Standard settlement cycles leave vendors exposed when input costs swing wildly.

Phison's role in the SSD food chain

• Phison primarily makes SSD controllers, not NAND flash itself.
• Its latest E28 controller rolls off TSMC's 6 nm process node.
• Controller fab capacity probably isn't the bottleneck here.
• Bundled services like firmware, validation, and NAND sourcing jack up working-capital needs.

What prepayment actually looks like

• Customers send funds ahead of time as credit balances on their accounts.
• Those credits get drawn down against controllers, SSDs, or related storage gear.
• Demand commitments become way more concrete under this model.

Broader market ripple effects

• Financial terms are quietly becoming part of the supply-allocation story.
• Brands relying on third-party controllers and external NAND face the biggest squeeze.
• Vertically integrated memory producers hold a clear advantage in volatile pricing cycles.
• SSD pricing and availability could take a real hit if these conditions persist.