RAM and Storage Prices Surge 500% as AI Demand Triggers Global Memory Crisis
10 Sources
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The RAM pricing crisis has only just started, Team Group GM warns -- says problem will get worse in 2026 as DRAM and NAND prices double in one month
The ongoing structural change of the DRAM market caused by the shift of manufacturing capacities to production of high bandwidth memory (HBM) for AI accelerators has already caused a massive price hike of commodity DDR and LPDDR memory. However, the worst is yet to come. According to the general
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CyberPowerPC Is Latest System Builder to Hike Prices Over Soaring DRAM Costs
CyberPowerPC is the latest PC-related retailer to announce across-the-board price increases due to skyrocketing memory prices. Expect price hikes on "all systems," effective Dec. 7 Memory prices have shot up dramatically in recent months, in some instances by close to 200%. This is driven by a
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RAM prices have increased '500%,' PC builder claims -- CyberPowerPC announces price hikes in U.S. and UK starting December 7
PC retailer CyberPowerPC has just announced that it will increase prices for memory modules across the U.S. and the U.K. According to the company's X posts, even though the RAM and SSD prices have begun to climb since October 2025, it will only begin price adjustments this December. Although
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Soaring DDR5 prices lead to falling motherboard sales and calls for gamers to boycott RAM
Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. A hot potato: The chaotic state of RAM prices continues to impact the industry. According to a new report, motherboard sales have fallen by as much as 50% as a result of the crisis. It has also led
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You're not imagining it: RAM and storage prices are climbing fast
AI-driven chip demand is squeezing RAM and storage supply, even for everyday consumers. What's happened? The bad news keeps stacking up for anyone planning a PC build or upgrade. It's not just GPUs and RAM climbing in price. In fact, SSDs are now part of the squeeze, with chipmakers warning that
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Memory crisis and sky-high DRAM prices could run past 2028 as Samsung and SK Hynix opt to 'minimize the risk of oversupply'
The two big memory makers want to stick with boom and avoid bust. Brace yourself for the latest update to the memory supply crisis. And it's not good news. Not at all. Samsung and SK Hynix, who together are responsible for 70% of the DRAM market, have signalled their reluctance and inability,
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"It's a perfect storm of unpreparedness, panic, and greed" - RAM prices are soaring, so what does it mean for gaming?
The price of RAM, the quick access source of memory in a computer, is currently soaring. Prices have more than doubled in two months and show no sign of slowing down. They've risen so sharply, in fact, that some shops have stopped printing price labels so they can alter the prices daily, as though
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It's not just RAM -- SSDs could soon cost way more too, and it's all downhill from here
Another day, another round of bad news regarding the ongoing RAM shortage and rising PC hardware prices. TrendForce reports that the NAND flash wafer supply is getting worse, which will directly impact SSD prices, and it already has. How long will it take for those price changes to trickle down to
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RAM Prices Are Now So High That Some Stores Are Not Printing Price Tags
Epic CEO says high-end gaming could take years to recover from this There is a global RAM shortage that is getting out of hand (and consumers' pockets). As per multiple reports, PC and smartphone memory chips, in particular dynamic random access memory (DRAM), are severely scarce in the market,
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Concern That Skyrocketing RAM Prices Driven by AI Needs Will Cause Problems for High-End Gaming for 'Several Years'
There is increasing concern that skyrocketing RAM prices will impact high-end gaming not just in the short term, but the long term. With the explosive growth of generative AI, AI data centers are hoovering up the world's memory and storage supply, sparking price hikes that some experts fear could
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Memory manufacturers are reallocating production capacity from consumer DDR and NAND to high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators, causing dramatic price increases that could extend into 2027-2028. PC builders and consumers face unprecedented costs with relief unlikely until new manufacturing capacity comes online.
AI Demand Triggers Unprecedented Memory Crisis
The global memory market is experiencing its most severe supply crunch in recent history, with RAM and storage prices surging by as much as 500% in recent months. The crisis stems from memory manufacturers reallocating production capacity from consumer DDR and NAND flash memory to high-bandwidth memory (HBM) specifically designed for AI accelerators used in data centers
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Source: Tom's Hardware
According to Gerry Chen, general manager of TeamGroup, contract prices for DRAM and 3D NAND products have nearly doubled month-over-month, with December contract prices increasing 80% to 100% compared to November
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. Spot market prices tell an even more dramatic story, with 16GB DDR5 chips jumping from $6.84 in September to $27.20 by December 1st.Industry-Wide Price Adjustments
The memory shortage is forcing widespread price increases across the PC industry. CyberPowerPC became the latest system builder to announce across-the-board price hikes, citing a 500% increase in global RAM prices and 100% rise in SSD costs
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. The company will implement price adjustments on all systems starting December 7th, affecting both U.S. and U.K. markets3
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Source: PC Magazine
The impact extends beyond system builders. Framework has paused direct-to-consumer RAM sales to prevent scalping, while major retailers like Micro Center have removed fixed pricing tags from memory kits, switching to volatile spot pricing
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. Japanese retailers have begun limiting memory module sales, and Taiwanese distributors are forcing buyers to bundle DRAM purchases with motherboards.Manufacturing Capacity Constraints
The root cause lies in the fundamental shift of manufacturing priorities. Memory producers like Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix are dedicating increasing portions of their production lines to HBM, which uses larger DRAM dies than commodity memory types
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. Major cloud service providers including AWS, Google, and Microsoft are booking HBM supply years in advance to support their AI infrastructure buildouts.
Source: Tom's Hardware
Building new memory fabrication facilities requires at least three years from groundbreaking to production, meaning even if manufacturers decided to expand capacity today, new supply wouldn't come online until late 2028 at the earliest
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Market Impact and Consumer Response
The crisis is creating cascading effects throughout the PC ecosystem. Motherboard sales have plummeted 40-50% compared to the previous year as consumers delay upgrades due to prohibitive DDR5 costs
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. A 64GB DDR5 memory kit now costs more than a PlayStation 5 console, fundamentally altering the economics of PC building.Major PC manufacturers are adapting through various strategies. Lenovo has stockpiled memory to maintain steadier pricing, while HP has warned of potential price increases or lower-specification models
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. Graphics card manufacturers AMD and Nvidia are also considering price adjustments and potentially discontinuing some low- and mid-range models4
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