RAM destroys everything Edge

Memory suppliers have blown 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 a spike in memory prices, but the shockwaves will soon affect a wide range of products as suppliers pour resources into a much larger and more lucrative endeavor: artificial intelligence.

The biggest names in the AI ​​industry are buying DRAM for sprawling data centers, and memory makers are prioritizing their requirements over everyone else’s. Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is built into “every part of our digital society today,” says Jeff Jankowitz, vice president of research at IDC. Edge. This is everything from laptops to smartphones, gaming consoles, smart TVs, cars and even small quantities of solid state drives (SSDs). “There’s a lot at stake,” he says.

The smartphone upgrade you’ve been eyeing may cost more next year: 12GB of memory in a flagship Samsung Galaxy smartphone It is now said to be costing the company Almost $40 more. IDC He actually predicts Smartphone sales decline in 2026 due to lack of random access memory (RAM), and a $9 increase in average phone prices. some brands, Like the Chinese company Xiaomiare already warning customers of higher prices in the future. Laptop makers may cut costs, and price increases may trickle down to gaming consoles.

Today, just three companies—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—control 93 percent of the entire global DRAM market. especially, Data from Counterpoint Research shows that SK Hynix Samsung has a 38 percent market share in the second quarter of 2025, followed by Samsung with 32 percent and Micron with 23 percent. No other company owns more than 5% of its shares.

It seems that the big three RAM companies are in no hurry to reverse the high prices; All three boasted record revenues in their latest earnings reports, while their net profits more than doubled. They don’t seem to be bothered that data centers consume RAM that’s typically seen in consumer products either.

For Samsung, memory is larger than most consumer products anyway. Samsung’s memory works It achieved a record high of 26.7 trillion Korean won (~$18.12 billion) in its latest earnings report, making up more than a quarter of its total revenue. That’s nearly double what its entire appliance and TV business made during that period.

So far, Micron, who combed A record $11.32 billion In the last quarter of 2025, it made the most dramatic change in response to demand for dynamic random access memory (DRAM). He announced that Terminating its long-standing consumer-facing brand, Critical, so they can focus on providing AI companies with the memory they need to run their servers. “If you are not a server customer, you will be considered a second priority to memory vendors,” says Shrish Pant, an analyst at Gartner. Edge.

Meanwhile, Samsung and SK Hynix, the other two big DRAM companies, may have already committed 40 percent of the world’s total memory production to a single AI project. according to Tom’s deviceswhen Make a deal with OpenAI to supply up to 900,000 DRAM chips per month as part of the AI ​​giant’s Stargate infrastructure initiative.

With the AI ​​memory boom in full swing, major DRAM makers appear to be riding the wave to profit as well. SK Hynix’s net profit more than doubles to KRW 5.75 trillion ($3.92 billion) In the third quarter of 2024 To 12.6 trillion KRW (~$8.6 billion) In the third quarter of 2025. Micron saw 10x increase In its annual net income, it increased from $778 million in fiscal year 2024 to $8.6 billion in fiscal year 2025.

To make DRAM — whether for AI companies or consumer products — memory suppliers need silicon wafers: thin, disk-shaped materials used as a base for semiconductors, including memory chips. Part of today’s problem is that AI data centers require many more of these chips than consumer products. Data centers consume dynamic random access memory (DRAM) to run the servers behind the world’s most advanced AI models, and they also use another type called high-bandwidth memory (HBM), which comes equipped with high-end graphics processing units like Nvidia’s Blackwell Ultra chip.

Demand for HBM-equipped AI chips is not slowing down. Nvidia has announced the sale of more AI chips More than ever during the most recent earnings report, some even sold out completely.

As memory suppliers dedicate production lines and silicon chips to HBM and AI, that leaves “less chip output for standard PCs and consumer DRAM,” according to David Naranjo, associate director at Counterpoint. HBM also uses more resources, according to a report from Nand Research It states that “the chip capacity consumed by HBM exceeds that of standard DRAM by a factor of three.”

Although PC makers may be the first to experience these price hikes as memory chip values ​​rise dramatically, the increase “could impact a wide range of industries,” Naranjo says. Lenovo is stocking up on the memory as part of its attempt to “balance price and availability” for customers next year. according to BloombergDell and HP plan to make adjustments as well. During last month’s earnings call, Dell CEO Jeff Clark said The company will “do everything we can to minimize the impact, but the reality is that the cost basis is rising across all products.” Meanwhile, HP’s Enrique Lloris She said she would try to alleviate the shortage By raising prices or reducing the amount of memory they put inside their devices.

Companies can cut other corners, too. “You could use a cheaper battery, maybe a smaller capacity battery,” Yanukovych suggests. “Supply might be another area where you might look to achieve some cost reductions.”

Even with these potential solutions, companies may “pass on some of these price increases to consumers” anyway, Yanukovych says. This is especially true for more affordable devices like Chromebooks and the Google Pixel 9A, since there’s less room to swap out parts that are already cost-optimized — and this can make it harder to find budget-friendly options.

For some companies, price increases are already a reality. Custom PC builders CyberPowerPC Maingear said it would have to raise prices due to the high cost of RAM, and So does the typical laptop company’s framework. Even Raspberry Pi, which makes single-board computers, had to do this Increasing the prices of its new deviceswhile mobile game maker OneXPlayer Announced plans To raise the price of its latest devices Before stopping sales completely.

Concerns are growing about the price of the upcoming Steam Machine as well, Valve’s Pierre-Loup Griffais said. He said It will be “in line with the current PC market.” Dead Leaker Moore’s Law implies that Microsoft will raise prices Xbox Series due to shortage; It already costs $150 more than it did when it launched five years ago.

PC makers looking to upgrade are seeing memory prices double, triple, or even quadruple. For example, G. Skill’s Trident Z5 Neo RGB DDR5-6000 (2x16GB) RAM rose from $124.99 in September to $389.99, according to Data from PCPartPicker. Corsair Vengeance DDR5 RAM (2x16GB) with similar specs costs $134.99 in September by It rose to $427.99 in December.

SSDs, which primarily use NAND flash memory instead of DRAM, face similar challenges as AI companies buy storage for their data centers as well. SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron also make these devices, and as with DRAM, they are shifting focus to AI agents. “It’s actually a common problem,” Yanukovych says.

Even as demand for DRAM rises, the Big Three are reluctant to ramp up production. They may take a more cautious stance after supply increases It takes a portion of its revenue in 2023 – But they also back down because it’s profitable.

A Samsung representative told investors that the company plans to “pursue a strategy to maintain long-term profitability” rather than address the shortage through “rapid expansion of facilities.” As I mentioned PCGamer. SK Hynix Just celebrated “Highest quarterly performance ever, driven by overall rise in DRAM and NAND prices,” he noted, noting that operating profit in particular “exceeded 10 trillion won for the first time in the company’s history.”

Korean outlet Seoul Economic Daily SK Hynix says it does A plan to spend $500 billion To build new production plants, which are expected to be opened for the first time in 2027. Micron is also planning to build a factory in New York, although we now know it won’t focus on making consumer-focused products. When asked if SK Hynix plans to stop producing consumer products, company spokesman Paul Jang said Edge The company “does not consider discontinuing the relevant business.” Samsung did not respond to a request for comment.

With memory makers reluctant to expand further, Yanukovych says prices could stay the same or continue to rise throughout 2026, while prices could stay the same or continue to rise throughout 2026. SK Hynix told investors Last week it expected the shortage to continue until late 2027.

Either way, this is bad timing for PC gamers, who are just getting over GPU price hikes — and it’s bad news for everyone else, too, as RAM becomes another reason for companies to raise prices.