Coffee at the ready, because today's brew is sitting inside every gadget you own.
Phones, laptops, cameras.
Repriced by a buildout.
Let's pour…
The Big Sip
RAM prices have tripled in a year, and AI is the reason.
The world's three big memory makers redirected their factories, and consumer chips lost. Your next phone, laptop and even your GoPro now carry the cost.
Watch the price tags through 2026 (relief is not close).
The robots eat first. We get the bill.
Here’s Your Brew
Three companies make almost all the world's memory: Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron.
Together, they control about 95% of the DRAM market. AI data centres pay far more for high-bandwidth memory, so the makers shifted their wafers there. One AI memory wafer swallows the space of two ordinary ones. Less consumer RAM gets built.
Prices climb.
The receipts are ugly.
A 32GB DDR5 kit sold for about $100 a year ago. It now starts at $375, if you can find one in stock. DDR4 spot prices jumped by roughly 2,200% over 12 months. Lenovo, Dell, HP, Acer and ASUS all warn of 15-20% price increases in 2026.
Samsung's new Galaxy S26 already costs $100 more than before.
Some firms may not survive it.
GoPro told regulators it faces "substantial doubt" about its ability to stay in business. Memory costs are part of the squeeze. Suppliers are restarting old DDR4 lines, bracing for a world without cheap DDR5.
Analysts expect no relief until 2027 or 2028.
Here is the part worth a second coffee.
Samsung and SK Hynix both pleaded guilty to price-fixing in the 2000s, paying hundreds of millions in fines. Micron dodged a penalty by turning informant. This time, prices are soaring, and no regulator has filed a thing.
The shortage is real.
Two Sides, One Mug
Pro: Chipmakers say the scarcity is genuine. AI demand is record-breaking, fabs take years, and feeding the top bidder is plain economics.
Con: Three firms with ties to past price-fixing scandals now run a market with no new supply and no watchdog in sight.
Our read: Yes, supply is tight. But an oligopoly with prior form has every reason to let it ride.
Receipt of the Day
[Report] Tom's Hardware: "RAM Price Index 2026"
A 32GB DDR5 kit ran near $100 last October. The same kit now starts at above $350.
Why it matters: You can watch the squeeze in real time, in dollars, updated daily.
Spit Take
"Data centres now take up to 70% of global memory." — Everstream
Extra Curricular Coffee Break Links
[Report] Tom's Hardware: GoPro warns it may not survive. A camera brand tells regulators the memory crunch threatens its future.
[Report] CNET: The RAM shortage could kill budget phones. Cheap handsets get squeezed first; IDC sees phone shipments down 13% this year.
[Analysis] TechTimes: RAM prices and the price-fixing question. Gartner sees a 130% cost surge, and old antitrust ghosts get a fresh look.
Mugshot Poll 📊
Your next upgrade, what's the move?
Buy now before prices climb higher
Wait it out until 2028
Blame the robots, keep my old one
What shortage? I run 8GB and vibes
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There's your cup for Monday.
And maybe hold off on the RAM upgrade.
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