Sumitomo Corporation has taken an equity stake in GreenTek Solutions, a Texas-based IT asset disposition firm, becoming an equity-method affiliate as it enters the U.S. ITAD market amid AI-driven data center hardware turnover.
Client Brief: Samsung Just Posted the Largest Tech Profit Yet Reported: Old Memory Now Costs More Than AI Chips
Samsung’s Q2 2026 operating profit of roughly KRW89.4 trillion (~$58.4 billion) is attributed almost entirely to its memory business. The South Korean tech giant has not yet disclosed a divisional breakdown but market expectation is that the Device Solutions (DRAM, NAND, HBM) division carried the bulk of the profit, while the consumer electronics division posted comparatively weak results due to its own rising component costs.
The mechanism behind that is directly relevant to component pricing in the ITAD channel. DRAM contract prices are up 58–63% quarter-on-quarter and NAND Flash up 70–75% QoQ. Legacy memory has been hit hardest by scarcity, with DDR4 spot pricing running above even advanced HBM3e, which is a real inversion where end-of-life memory costs more per gigabit than the chip industry’s most advanced product.
That inversion is the number to watch. It means components pulled from older, decommissioned enterprise hardware are sitting on unusually strong resale value right now. Industry commentary places relief no earlier than late 2027–2028, so this is a multi-quarter pricing environment, not a one-time spike, though it is a window, not a new floor.
Inside Western Europe’s ITAD & Electronics Lifecycle Sectors
The four markets covered in the Euro Report series constitute a single, investable Western European ITAD and electronics-lifecycle complex: roughly 180 million people, four distinct regulatory regimes, and a combined hyperscale and AI infrastructure build-out now measured in tens of billions of euros of disclosed, committed capital. We view the region as underpriced relative to the United States on a like-for-like basis, not because the underlying asset flows are smaller, but because capital formation has been uneven across the four markets and because Germany — the largest single market in the group by a wide margin — remains structurally unconsolidated.
The Euro Report 4: Germany: Europe’s Largest Electronics Market Can’t Account for Its Own E-Waste
Germany is not France, and it is not the Netherlands. The first two Euro Reports told stories of countries building...
The Euro Report 3: The Netherlands: Investors Are Already Consolidating the Electronics Lifecycle Market
The Netherlands has developed one of Europe's more organized electronics lifecycle markets, anchored by a mature...
The Euro Report 2: Belgium’s Electronics Lifecycle Gateway: Logistics, Compliance, Reuse, and Data Centers Shape a Strategic ITAD Market
Belgium is one of Europe's smallest countries by land area, yet it occupies a disproportionately important position in...
The Euro Report 1: France’s Electronics Lifecycle Market where Repair and Resale Outpace Recycling
Unlike in the United States, where ITAD and electronics recycling sectors are largely driven by enterprise refresh...
Podcast: From Cradle to Grave: Current State of the Tech Sector
About this talk A candid conversation with Bob O'Donnell, a top industry analyst, on where the technology sector is...
Research: Memory Inflation, Component Spillover, and ITAD Harvesting Strategy, 2026-2027
The hardware market that ITAD operators work in has evolved fundamentally in 2026. Driven by changes tied to the "AI...
Component Market: Hardware Demand Puts New Focus on Parts Harvesting
Electronics manufacturers are once again warning about tight supplies for parts that are deeply embedded in circuit...
Presentation: ITAD Sector Review: April-to-mid-May 2026
This is the client's presentation covering April to mid-May 2026. It is designed to address general trends observed by...
Outlook: $60 billion in AI servers deploying now will create ITAD’s most complex EOL challenge by 2029
Dell guided to $60 billion in AI server revenue for its current fiscal year alone. Lenovo reports a $21 billion AI...
Market Briefing – Component Market: Motherboards in Freefall as AI Soaks Up the Silicon
Global PC shipments returned to growth in Q1 2026, but the apparent recovery is driven more by inventory tactics and...
How critical mineral alliances aim to shape the future of e scrap metals
ReElement Technologies, a company that specializes in refining rare earth elements and battery materials from both...
Metals and electronics recycling firms report stronger downstream trends
Recent disclosures from three leading metals and electronics recycling firms point to resilient earnings and generally...
Raised Aurubis guidance sends positive signal for circuit board and metals recovery markets
Hamburg-based metals recycler and smelter Aurubis has raised its full-year earnings forecast after reporting stronger...
Quantum expands plastics recovery as North American growth strategy takes shape
Canada-based Quantum Lifecycle Partners has launched an advanced plastics separation system designed to recover...
Secondary Market: Intel boosts margins by selling what it used to scrap
On April 27, Resource Recycling reported on Intel’s latest earnings call. But the company’s results also contained a...