PC RAM prices double amid AI-driven memory crisis

The memory market is experiencing a significant shortage, particularly in DRAM and NAND, driven by the high demand from AI data centers for HBM and RDIMM.

Major PC brands are scrambling to secure stock, with companies like Asus indicating they have around two months of inventory before facing pressure in 2026. Uniquely, even large vendors are aggressively purchasing from the spot market, indicating a drop in supply-chain confidence.

This has led to sharply rising prices, with RAM prices nearly doubling in some regions and certain markets, like Japan, implementing purchase limits.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—the world’s three largest memory suppliers—are reallocating 90% of their production capacity to enterprise memory, deliberately limiting consumer DRAM supply to maintain inflated prices.

The surge in demand is primarily due to the booming AI infrastructure, with hyperscale data centers prioritizing high-margin enterprise memory over consumer-grade DRAM.

However, concerns about a potential bubble in the AI market are making memory producers hesitant to invest in new manufacturing facilities, which take years to build.

As a result, consumer memory shortages are expected to continue through 2026, leading to higher prices and fewer new products available. The situation suggests a prolonged memory crunch for PC builders and buyers.

DDR5 RAM prices have already doubled since January 2025, with 32GB kits now averaging $180–200. GPU memory is also affected, with reports of new graphics card launches being delayed until late 2026 due to VRAM shortages.