Patriot says AI wafer demand has driven memory shortages and prices may keep rising

Pcgamer reports that during a live-streamed interview at CES 2026, Kyle Hansen spoke with Patriot marketing manager Shannon Robb about the scale of memory supply pressure driven by AI demand.

Robb said AI companies bought "like, 40% of the wafer production," and warned that Patriot "literally just have to get what we can get. Make it work, and obviously the market price—because [of how] supply and demand works—that goes up and we have to pay it." She called IC components "the key driver of price right now," said Patriot will remain in the consumer market and noted the company is in its 41st year. Robb also said she does not believe memory prices have peaked and that hopes for "first half 2026" have been tempered by statements from "SK [hynix]" about not increasing capacity.

For PC builders, Robb offered cautious buying advice: "If you're going to buy memory, now might be a good time. I can't say 100%, but [pricing] looks like it's going to continue to go up for a bit." She added that many users who never enable XMP can get by with a JEDEC stick and urged people to "Get a kit that makes sense." Robb repeated that "The market is eventually going to correct. It's just a matter of when," and the piece notes other components may also face price pressure from rising raw material costs, so "if your rig ain't broke," holding off on upgrades remains an option.

Key Topics

Tech, Patriot, Shannon Robb, Kyle Hansen, Sk Hynix, Wafers