AI Demand Triggers Memory Shortage That Could Push Phone Prices Up 8% and Delay Consoles
21 Sources
[1]
The RAM shortage is coming for everything you care about
Maybe you've heard: Memory is expensive now. The price of RAM has tripled, quadrupled, even sextupled depending on the type of chip, all because AI companies are gobbling it up. But maybe you've thought: I don't buy memory sticks! I don't build my own PCs! It won't affect me, right? I'm here to
[2]
Brace for a barren landscape of new hardware launches, as AI demand reshapes the world of consumer electronics -- trillions in AI investment threaten to derail entire industries
As DRAM demand outstrips supply, the future of consumer electronics looks uncertain. CES 2026 is a show that usually paints us a picture of what's to come. But this year was different. Dominated by AI and a handful of product launches in Panther Lake and AMD's new AI 400 chips, there wasn't
[3]
Rising memory costs see vendors change terms and conditions
If you like the price of that server, PC, or storage array, you'd better act fast. The spiraling cost of computer memory is forcing hardware vendors to shrink the time a quoted price is honored, as AI buildouts fueled by huge capital expenditures are causing massive shortages, analysts with IDC
[4]
YouTube Outage Affects 340,000 Users While Other Sites Disrupted
YouTube was down for nearly 340,000 users, internet monitor Downdetector Bloomberg Terminalsaid, while the streaming site reported an issue with its recommendations system. The outages led YouTube's site to appear blank for some users, with no videos loading on the YouTube app, YouTube Music and
[5]
The RAM crunch could kill products and even entire companies, memory exec admits
Phison is one of the leading makers of controller chips for SSDs and other flash memory devices -- and CEO Pua Khein-Seng has now become a leading voice for just how bad the RAM shortage might get. Companies may need to cut back their product lines in the second half of 2026, and some companies
[6]
Activist Palliser Takes Stake in Toilet Maker Toto in AI Play
Activist fund Palliser Capital has taken a stake in Japanese washlet maker Toto Ltd. and is pushing the firm to ramp up promotion of its little-known chip parts business in a bid to unlock value from the AI boom. The UK-based fund sent a letter to Toto's board last week calling for more disclosure
[7]
The RAM crisis is so much bigger than PCs: These popular gaming products are also caught in the crossfire
RAMageddon is in full effect. With memory chip manufacturers prioritizing AI data centers, what we're left with is price hikes, shortages and delays on all the tech that we value the most. Just how bad has it got? Well, before the memory shortage officially kicked into gear a few months ago, this
[8]
AMD Takes on Nvidia in India With Expanded Tata AI Partnership
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is partnering with Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. to deploy the US chipmaker's latest AI data center technology in India, challenging Nvidia Corp. in one of the world's fastest-growing markets. AMD will offer its Helios data center blueprint and will work with TCS to
[9]
Personal Electronics Spiking in Price as AI Industry Buys Up All the Components
The AI industry's obsession with building out enormous data centers to house power-hungry chips has put a major strain on the electronics market. First, the price of graphical processing units (GPUs) started shooting through the roof. Then the price of RAM skyrocketed, followed by both solid-state
[10]
Rampant AI demand for memory is fueling a growing chip crisis | Fortune
A growing procession of tech industry leaders including Elon Musk and Tim Cook are warning about a global crisis in the making: A shortage of memory chips is beginning to hammer profits, derail corporate plans and inflate price tags on everything from laptops and smartphones to automobiles and data
[11]
AI Could Make Your Next TV More Expensive
Current clearance deals on TVs are likely to be the last "normal" prices we'll see for years. The scarcity of RAM brought on by the artificial intelligence boom, dubbed RAMageddon, is affecting more than just the price of PCs. AI could make new televisions more expensive too -- as well as -- game
[12]
And I thought DDR5 prices were bad: Samsung is apparently charging $700 for its latest AI-empowering HBM product
The AI-fuelled memory supply crisis has been difficult to escape -- after all, even those literally living under a rock still need RAM for the glowing RGB rig they're keeping under there. But it's important to note AI datacentres aren't gobbling up consumer-grade kit specifically. Some sources
[13]
Ray Wang on How AI Is Causing DRAM Prices to Surge
Odd Lots: Ray Wang on How AI Is Causing DRAM Prices to Surge Arrow Right 45:25 Listen to Odd Lots on Apple Podcasts Listen to Odd Lots on Spotify Watch Odd Lots on YouTube Subscribe to the newsletter For years, DRAM -- or Dynamic Random Access Memory -- was kind of a sleepy, commoditized
[14]
Many consumer electronics manufacturers 'will go bankrupt or exit product lines' by the end of 2026 due to the AI memory crisis, Phison CEO reportedly says
Is it just me, or does it feel like everything is just about to spiral out of control with this AI-memory-boom-chatbot-slop-crisis thing? We already know that memory prices have gone bananas and that the crisis is complicating the production of all kinds of computing-adjacent devices. Now the CEO
[15]
Alibaba Unveils Major AI Model Upgrade Ahead of DeepSeek Release
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. unveiled a major upgrade of its flagship AI model, accelerating a race with a panoply of startups and sectoral leaders aiming to get in ahead of Chinese sensation DeepSeek's next big platform. The latest iteration of Alibaba's Qwen is designed to support AI agent tasks
[16]
RAM shortages explained: Why the world's supply of computing memory is so expensive right now
The RAMpocalypse, RAMageddon, and RAMflation are upon us, but why? If you've been shopping for any sort of new technology lately, chances are you'll have come across ludicrous memory prices, fewer choices, or, like in the case of the Steam Deck, limited availability. Shortages of the best RAM for
[17]
Rampant AI Demand for Memory Is Fueling a Growing Chip Crisis
Tech giants face a severe memory chip shortage. Companies are considering building their own chip factories. This crunch is expected to worsen, affecting everything from smartphones to cars. A growing procession of tech industry leaders including Elon Musk and Tim Cook are warning about a global
[18]
Memory Makers Rush to Build New Facilities, But Don't Expect the Extra Capacity to Help Anyone Outside the AI Elite
Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron are now entering into the 'production expansion' timeline, but estimates suggest that any capacity increase won't help with the memory shortages for consumers. Memory shortages have now entered a phase in which sellers dominate, as demand has outpaced supply by a wide
[19]
Rampant AI Demand for Memory Is Fueling a Growing Chip Crisis
A growing procession of tech industry leaders including Elon Musk and Tim Cook are warning about a global crisis in the making: A shortage of memory chips is beginning to hammer profits, derail corporate plans and inflate price tags on everything from laptops and smartphones to automobiles and data
[20]
The AI Boom Faces a Hard Constraint | Investing.com UK
The AI surge has powered markets, lifted valuations and reshaped capital allocation across global portfolios. Investors have embraced scale: scale in compute, scale in deployment, scale in projected earnings. A physical constraint now challenges that optimism. The tightening supply of memory
[21]
Consumer tech brands may go bankrupt or exit industry due to rising AI memory costs, warns Phison CEO
Memory suppliers are reportedly demanding multi-year prepayments from buyers, which is an uncommon practice. There has been growing reporting on rising global memory chip prices, driven by the reallocation of manufacturing capacity towards AI data centres and cloud infrastructure. Major memory
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A severe memory shortage driven by AI data center construction is reshaping consumer electronics. RAM prices have tripled to sextupled in months, forcing smartphone makers to raise prices by up to 8%, console manufacturers to delay launches until 2028-2029, and hardware vendors to shrink price quote windows. Cloud providers plan over $600 billion in capital expenditures, intensifying the supply crisis.
AI Demand Fuels Unprecedented Memory Shortage
The global RAM shortage has escalated into a full-blown crisis as AI data center construction consumes the majority of memory chip production. Three companies—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology—control 93 percent of the DRAM market and are prioritizing AI accelerators over consumer electronics
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. Cloud providers including AWS, Google, Meta, and Microsoft expect to spend over $600 billion collectively on AI infrastructure projects in 20263
. Alphabet and Amazon alone announced construction plans reaching $185 billion and $200 billion respectively—more capital expenditures than any company has deployed in a single year4
. This AI data center boom has created what industry insiders call "RAMageddon," with memory price hikes reaching 75 percent from December to January alone4
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Source: Bloomberg
Rising Memory Costs Hit Smartphones and Consumer Electronics
The impact on consumer electronics is immediate and severe. IDC now predicts average smartphone prices could increase as much as 8 percent, with significantly higher price hikes on cheaper phones where manufacturers must pass costs to end users
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. Memory represents 15-20 percent of the materials cost of a midrange phone and 10-15 percent of flagship devices1
. Consumers accustomed to $500 phones may face $600 or higher price tags. Even flagship models are affected—new 2026 Pro models will likely stick to 12GB of RAM rather than upgrading to 16GB1
. Apple CEO Tim Cook acknowledged the company must "look at a range of options to deal with" the impact on gross margins, while industry sources told ZDNet Korea that Apple may pay 80 percent or even 100 percent more for memory this quarter after renegotiating with Samsung and SK Hynix1
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Source: The Verge
Supply Chain Disruptions Force Hardware Vendors to Adjust Terms
Supply chain disruptions have forced major hardware vendors to shrink price quote windows and adjust contract terms. HPE cut quote expiration dates in half from 30 days to 14 days, while Cisco can now cancel compute orders up to 45 days before shipment and adjust pricing between order date and shipment
3
. Jeff Janukowicz, research vice president at IDC, explained that "suppliers are allocating constrained supply and prioritizing segments that are willing—or able—to absorb higher pricing"3
. Compared to just a few months ago, pricing for many memory products has nearly doubled3
. Memory supply contracts are reportedly getting shorter, exposing companies to greater market volatility and forcing manufacturers to adjust MSRP pricing on existing and upcoming retail products2
.DRAM and NAND Shortages Delay Game Consoles and PCs
The chip supply crisis is reshaping product roadmaps across the industry. Sony is considering pushing back the PlayStation 6 debut to 2028 or even 2029, while Nintendo contemplates raising Switch 2 prices in 2026
4
. Chinese smartphone makers including Xiaomi, Oppo, and Shenzhen Transsion Holdings are trimming shipment targets, with Oppo cutting forecasts by as much as 20 percent4
. Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon warned that companies will build fewer phones, attributing a big dip in smartphone business "100 percent" to the memory shortage1
. The impact on hardware launches was evident at CES 2026, which featured minimal new product announcements and no new consumer GPUs from Nvidia2
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Impact on Hardware Launches Extends Beyond Consumer Devices
The memory shortage affects far more than smartphones and game consoles. Every device with a computer inside depends on RAM—farm tractors, hospital equipment, routers, and automotive industry vehicles using specially qualified ICs
1
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. Phison CEO Pua Khein-Seng warned that companies may need to cut back product lines in the second half of 2026, with some companies potentially shutting down if they cannot secure enough RAM5
. He expects people will start fixing products more often instead of replacing them over the next couple years5
. SMIC co-CEO Zhao Haijun noted that "the combined effect of these factors has resulted in a decline in mid to low-end orders received by foundries," warning that ongoing cost increases may lead to demand decline with disastrous consequences for some companies2
.Memory Price Hikes Reshape Bill of Materials Across Industries
Memory makers are positioned to earn a staggering $551 billion thanks to the AI boom, fundamentally altering supply and demand dynamics
2
. Bernstein analyst Mark Li warns that memory chip prices are going "parabolic," bringing lavish profits to Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix while the rest of the electronics sector pays a painful price4
. Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing explained that "this structural imbalance between supply and demand is not simply a short-term fluctuation" and will last at least through the rest of the year4
. Lam Research CEO Tim Archer stated at a South Korea conference that "what is ahead of us between now and the end of this decade, in terms of demand, is bigger than anything we've seen in the past, and will overwhelm all other sources of demand"4
. Tesla CEO Elon Musk captured the intractable nature of the problem when he declared Tesla must build its own memory fabrication plant, stating "we've got two choices: hit the chip wall or make a fab"4
. While IDC expects prices to moderate later this year, robust AI demand means memory demand should continue strong, with Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan predicting shortages lasting until 20283
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Source: PC Gamer
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