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Random access memory, or RAM, is in just about every piece of technology we use. But it’s also the technology that AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta are using to power the servers in their massive data centers. Now, the world’s biggest memory makers — Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron — are taking advantage of a surge in demand, shifting their resources away from consumer-focused products and toward more lucrative deals with AI companies.
The result is a severe shortage in RAM for consumer products, which is not only contributing to price hikes on the RAM kits used by PC builders but also for the manufacturers of a range of devices, including laptops, smartphones, gaming consoles, and a whole lot more. Some companies, like Raspberry Pi and Framework, have already raised the prices of their products as a result of the increase, while others, like Dell, Asus, Acer, Xiaomi, and Nothing, have warned about price hikes coming soon.
It doesn’t look like the RAM shortage is going to subside anytime soon, as analysts at the International Data Corporation predict that it could “persist well into 2027.” Here’s all the latest news on the rising price of RAM.
RAM is ruining everything
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
Memory suppliers just blew a hole in the PC gaming industry – and they’re about to do the same to everything else. For weeks, PC enthusiasts have borne the brunt of skyrocketing memory prices, but the shockwaves will soon impact a wider range of products as suppliers pour resources into a far bigger and more lucrative endeavor: AI.
The biggest names in the AI industry are buying up DRAM memory for their sprawling data centers, and memory makers are prioritizing their demands over everyone else’s. DRAM is embedded “in every part of our digital society today,” Jeff Janukowicz, research VP at IDC, tells The Verge. That’s everything from laptops to smartphones, gaming consoles, smart TVs, cars, and even small amounts in solid-state drives (SSDs). “There’s a lot at stake,” he says.
Nothing will “inevitably” hike smartphone prices because of rising memory costs.
That’s according to Nothing CEO Carl Pei, who, in a big post on X, also said that:
Memory is fast becoming one of the most expensive smartphone components and potentially the single largest cost driver in the bill of materials by year-end, with estimates suggesting that memory modules which cost less than $20 a year ago could exceed $100 by year-end for top-tier models.
Micron says its decision to shut down Crucial is meant to “help” consumers.
During an interview with Wccftech, Micron VP of marketing Christopher Moore says the company is still serving consumers “through different channels,” such as focusing on supplying DRAM modules to device manufacturers like Dell and Asus:
Our viewpoint is that we are trying to help consumers around the world. We’re just doing it through different channels. We still have a very sizable business in the client and mobile markets... I think it’s really important for people to understand we are still servicing the consumer market.
Framework hikes desktop PC prices as RAM shortage drags on
Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
Just weeks after raising the price of its RAM modules, Framework has announced that it’s also increasing the price of its desktop PC in response to the global memory shortage. The Framework Desktop with 32GB of RAM and an AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 chip now starts at $1,139, instead of $1,099.
“We held off on it for as long as we could, but we had to update our Framework Desktop pricing today to account for the massive increase in LPDDR5x pricing from our suppliers,” Framework says in a post on X. “As before, we’re only adjusting prices enough to cover the increases in cost.”
Apple did it first.
As Framework announces its second price hike tied to rising RAM costs, it’s worth taking a moment to give Apple its dues — it was hiking up memory prices long before it was cool.
Akarain8:
If this carries on Apple’s RAM pricing will start to look merely ‘overpriced’.
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Framework announces another memory price hike — and it likely won’t be its last
Photo by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
The modular PC company Framework is adjusting the price of its DDR5 RAM modules once again as the cost of memory continues to surge. In an update on Wednesday, Framework said it will charge $10 per GB for 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB, with “slightly higher” prices for the 48GB and up.
Framework first announced a price hike on memory earlier this month, citing “substantially higher costs” from suppliers and distributors. With this most recent increase in place, the 8GB variation jumped from $60 to $80, the 16GB option increased from $120 to $160, and the 32GB variation went from $240 to $320. Meanwhile, the price tag of the 48GB option more than doubled from $240 as of June 2025 to $620. The 64GB (2 x 32GB) and 96GB (2 x 48GB) modules are also more expensive, priced at $640 and $1,240, respectively.
RAM is so expensive they’re selling “prebuilt” PCs without it.
It’s no secret that RAM prices are absolutely Out. Of. Control. Paradox Customs is taking an interesting approach, selling “prebuilt” PCs that skip memory entirely. The idea being, if you happen to have spare sticks lying around, you can save some money. Of course, it’s also an alarming sign of what the PC market has come to.
The RAM shortage is here to stay, raising prices on PCs and phones
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
Your next smartphone or PC might cost more amid a global memory shortage that the International Data Corporation expects to “persist well into 2027.” A new report from the research firm lays out the potential impact of the RAM crunch, saying it “signals the end of an era of cheap, abundant memory and storage” — for now, at least.
The price of RAM has skyrocketed over the past few months as the world’s biggest memory makers — Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix — allocate more resources for AI companies, which are buying up tons of memory for their massive data centers. Though PC gamers looking to upgrade their build’s RAM may have been the first to feel the impact of this crunch, it’s coming for other devices, too.
Micron says memory shortage will ‘persist’ beyond 2026
Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images
Micron, one of the three biggest memory suppliers in the world, forecasts rough months ahead for the global RAM supply. As part of its earnings report released on Wednesday, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said “tight industry conditions” across DRAM and NAND flash memory are expected to “persist through and beyond” 2026 as AI drives up demand.
With the AI boom in full swing, Micron is making more money than ever as companies like OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and Google fill their data centers with powerful chips that come packaged with high-bandwidth memory (HBM). It once again reported record revenue of $13.64 billion this past quarter, a sizeable jump from the $8.71 billion it made at the same time last year.
RAM kit pricing tripled in just three months.
Samsung memory is nearly as big as Samsung Galaxy.
I knew Samsung made lots of money making chips, not just electronics. But Emma’s RAM report puts it in perspective: Last quarter, the company earned nearly twice as much from memory as from its entire TV and appliance business.
Samsung’s mobile biz was still bigger than memory ($22.8B vs. $18.2B), but not by much!
Crucial is shutting down — because Micron wants to sell its RAM and SSDs to AI companies instead
Image: Micron
DRAM it! Raspberry Pi raises prices
Raspberry Pi is increasing the price of several single-board computers in an attempt to offset soaring memory costs. The updates are being applied immediately and affect Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5, with prices increasing by $5 to $25 depending on the model and amount of RAM. The 16GB memory variants of the Compute Module 5 are also being raised by $20, now starting at $140.
“The current pressure on memory prices, driven by competition from the AI infrastructure roll-out, is painful but ultimately temporary,” Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton said in the announcement. “We remain committed to driving down the cost of computing and look forward to unwinding these price increases once it abates.”
These prebuilt PCs are about to cost more due to rising RAM prices
Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The skyrocketing price of RAM is trickling down to custom PC makers, including CyberPowerPC and Maingear. On Wednesday, CyberPowerPC announced that it plans to adjust the pricing across all of its systems on December 7th, as reported earlier by PCMag.
“Recently, global memory (RAM) prices have surged by 500% and SSD prices have risen by 100%,” CyberPowerPC says in a statement posted on X. “This has had a direct impact on the cost of building gaming PCs since 10/1/25.”
RAM prices are so out of control that stores are selling it like lobster
Image: Corsair
Michael Crider’s headline at PCWorld today perfectly captures how ridiculous the PC memory shortage has become: stores like the San Francisco Bay Area’s Central Computers are beginning to sell RAM at market prices, like you’d pay for the catch-of-the-day at a seafood restaurant.
“Costs are fluctuating daily as manufacturers and distributors adjust to limited supply and high demand,” reads a message posted in the store’s display case, as spotted by Steve Lin. “Because of this, we can’t display fixed prices at this time.”
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