RAM price surge forces PC makers to cut memory specs, analysts say

RAM prices have soared, hurting people who want to buy, build, or upgrade PCs and dampening enthusiasm for so-called "AI PCs," Ars Technica reports. The surge is linked to growing data-center demand driven by the AI boom, which has tightened supplies of RAM and flash memory chips.

In an announcement today, Ben Yeh, principal analyst at Omdia, said that in 2025 "mainstream PC memory and storage costs rose by 40 percent to 70 percent, resulting in cost increases being passed through to customers." Both Omdia and IDC reported growth in global PC shipments in 2025—Omdia pegged growth at 9.2 percent, and IDC at 9.6 percent—but analysts warned the year ahead will be "extremely volatile," Jean Philippe Bouchard, research VP with IDC's worldwide mobile device trackers, said.

Both analyst firms expect PC makers to manage the RAM shortage by raising prices and shipping computers with lower memory specifications. IDC expects price hikes of 15 to 20 percent and that PC RAM specs will "be lowered on average to preserve memory inventory on hand," Bouchard said.

Key Topics

Tech, Ram, Personal Computers, Data Centers, Omdia, Idc