Why RAM Prices Are Skyrocketing: Smartphone, PC and Gaming Console Prices to Be Impacted

There is a global RAM shortage that is getting out of hand (and consumers' pockets). As per multiple reports, PC and smartphone memory chips, in particular dynamic random access memory (DRAM), are severely scarce in the market, and it is causing a massive price hike. Some reports claim that RAM prices have tripled in just a year's time. Some computer stores are said have stopped printing price tags due to the volatility in the market. And the culprit? The surge in demand for memory chips in artificial intelligence (AI) data centres.

RAM Shortage Lead to Unstable Price Hike

Bluesky user Steve Lin (@stevelin.bsky.social) shared an image of a Central Computers outlet, which is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, where the store highlighted that due to global shortage, RAM and related components have witnessed a price hike by 20-50 percent in recent days. As a result, the store has stopped displaying fixed prices.

Notice placed by Central Computers
Photo Credit: Bluesky/Steve Lin

The same was observed by Reddit user u/CassTexas in a different computer store. This situation is said to be occurring across the globe, even if some regions might experience a delayed hit due to existing stocks.

According to a PCWorld report, a set of two 64GB DDR5 DIMMs are currently priced at $900 (roughly Rs. 80,400) on Best Buy, when the same was priced $155 (roughly Rs. 13,900) 18 months ago. Even more strikingly, The Verge reports that prices of 32GB memory chips for PC have tripled in just three months, going up from $130 (roughly Rs. 11,600) to $440 (roughly Rs. 39,300).

The impact of this volatile pricing is also being felt in all allied sectors. Speaking exclusively with Gadgets 360, iQOO CEO Nipun Marya, said, “Samsung increased the prices [of memory chips] by 60 percent from September to November.” As a result, the company was not able to keep the price of just launched iQOO 15 low, and it was set at Rs. 72,999 for the base variant with 12GB RAM + 256GB storage.

According to a Tom's Hardware report, Valve has not finalised the price of the recently unveiled Steam Machine due to the same price hike. Nvidia and AMD are also reportedly planning to hike the prices of their GPUs by 10 percent, due to the shortage. Rumours also claim that Microsoft could be forced to again hike the prices of Xbox to mitigate component costs.

Why Are RAM Prices Skyrocketing?

Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said in an X (formerly known as Twitter) post, “RAM price increases will be a real problem for high-end gaming for several years. Factories are diverting leading edge DRAM capacity to meet AI needs where data centers are bidding far higher than consumer device makers.”

The reason behind this massive shortage and the price hikes are said to be AI-related. The recent push by major corporations, such as Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Microsoft, and others, that are actively building new data centres to handle the increasing requirement of compute, or processing power, for their chatbot and various productivity tools, is said to have created the shortage.

The AI infrastructure expansion is not going to stop anytime soon. So, it is difficult to say when a price correction for memory chip can be seen. Whether it is a temporary situation and an increase in production could reverse the price impact, or if natural resources scarcity could further push this shortage, can only be determined in the days to come.

So, in the coming months, consumers should prepare themselves for inflated prices of smartphones, laptops, PCs, and gaming consoles.