Global RAM Price Increases Driven by AI Demand, Impacting Device Costs and Market Strategies

The cost of Random Access Memory (RAM), a critical component in electronic devices, has significantly increased since October 2025, primarily due to rising demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. This trend is projected to affect the pricing of various consumer electronics and other devices by 2026. While some segments of the market are experiencing immediate price adjustments and reduced availability, other manufacturers report stable pricing due to existing inventories and architectural optimizations.

Rising RAM Costs and Market Factors

RAM prices have more than doubled since October 2025. This increase is attributed to the substantial growth in data centers supporting AI technologies, which require significant quantities of RAM, creating an imbalance between supply and demand. Steve Mason, general manager of CyberPowerPC, noted that component costs have risen by approximately 500% over recent months, indicating that manufacturers may need to adjust product pricing. Danny Williams from PCSpecialist anticipates these price increases will persist into 2026, potentially influencing consumer demand.

Chris Miller, author of "Chip War," identified AI demand, particularly for High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), as a dominant factor influencing memory chip demand and subsequent price hikes across different memory types. Mike Howard of Tech Insights stated that cloud service providers' finalized memory requirements for 2026 and 2027 suggest current supply levels will not meet projected demand from major hyperscalers such as Amazon and Google.

Wonjin Lee, Samsung's marketing leader, indicated at CES that semiconductor supply issues are anticipated to affect all sectors, with prices already increasing. The global memory supply is increasingly allocated to the AI industry, benefiting companies such as OpenAI, Microsoft, and NVIDIA, which could lead to increased prices for consumer PC products.

Impact on Device Manufacturing and Consumer Pricing

RAM typically constitutes 15% to 20% of the total cost of a personal computer; however, current pricing trends have raised this proportion to between 30% and 40%. Profit margins in many consumer electronics categories are generally not sufficient to absorb these increased component costs, suggesting that price adjustments for end-users are probable.

Suppliers have consistently increased prices, with some temporarily ceasing to issue price quotes, a move that may indicate expectations of further price escalation. Variations in price increases have been observed among RAM producers, with vendors holding larger existing inventories reporting more modest price adjustments (1.5 to 2 times previous costs), while firms with limited stock have seen price increases up to 5 times.

Diverse Responses and Mitigation Strategies

The impact of rising RAM costs on consumer device pricing has varied across the industry, with some manufacturers implementing strategies to mitigate immediate effects:

Reports vary regarding the immediate impact on specific product lines. Dell's XPS 14 and 16 models, initially expected to start at approximately $1,650 and $1,850, respectively, were subsequently announced with starting prices of $2,050 for the XPS 14 and $2,200 for the XPS 16. Observations from CES 2026 indicated potential for increased prices and reduced availability of consumer computing goods.

Conversely, laptop prices have reportedly remained stable due to significant inventory held by laptop manufacturing partners. Nish Neelalojanan, Intel's Senior Director of Product Management, confirmed that most of Intel's laptop-making partners (OEMs) possess approximately 9 to 12 months of inventory. A Dell representative clarified that a version of the XPS 14 displayed at CES was not an entry-level configuration, with more affordably priced systems similar to previous years' costs anticipated for release in February.

• AMD's Approach: David McAfee, AMD's Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Client Channel Business, suggested that the durability of AMD's AM4 and AM5 platforms could benefit consumers. These platforms allow for CPU upgrades without requiring new RAM or motherboards, potentially offering performance improvements without incurring high RAM costs. McAfee predicted a trend in 2026 towards component upgrades rather than full system replacements, noting that 30% to 40% of AMD's business still involves the AM4 platform. He also stated that AMD's X3D chips, which incorporate 3D V-cache, are less impacted by slower RAM due to their substantial onboard L2 and L3 cache.
• Intel's Optimizations: Intel is implementing architectural and software adjustments to address memory reliance. The Intel Core Ultra Series 3 architecture features an increased L3 cache (up to 18MB) on the chip, accessible to the E-cores, which acts as an intermediary between the CPU and RAM, reducing the chip's dependency on system memory. Additionally, a software memory slider is being developed for Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) to manage system memory utilization more effectively.

Outlook

These developments, including proactive planning by laptop makers and Intel's efficiency improvements, are expected to insulate some new systems from potential price increases for several months. Additionally, these circumstances are encouraging companies like Microsoft to prioritize software efficiency. David McAfee expressed an expectation for DRAM prices to stabilize within the first three to six months of the year, though without elaborating on the rationale. The long-term impact of AI's increasing consumption of DRAM chips indicates that the broader RAM supply situation remains a factor to monitor.