Summary
- The ongoing RAM shortage will likely continue into 2027, "signaling the end of cheap, abundant memory."
- AI-focused PCs and laptops will face price hikes; some notable OEMs have already raised costs by 10-5%, and the average PC price is up 4-8%.
- Budget phones likely pass higher RAM costs to buyers, but flagships from big manufacturers may dodge this increase with a notable pre-secured supply.
If you're in the market for an AI PC with ample RAM or a budget smartphone at some point in the next few years, this isn't great news. In a new report, the International Data Corporation (IDC) says that the current memory crisis will continue into 2026, emphasizing that it could even extend "well into 2027."
The report goes on to state that this "signals the end of an era of cheap, abundant memory and storage." Over the past several months, the price of RAM has grown significantly, with the industry's biggest manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron, and more, allocating the bulk of their resources to AI companies. In Micron's case, the company shuttered its consumer-focused Crucial brand entirely in favor of focusing on businesses only.
While the impact of the RAM crisis hit the PC gaming space first, there are now ripple effects tied to other hardware components.
Over the past few weeks, several PC and laptop manufacturers have confirmed price hikes in the range of 15-10%, including Asus, Dell, HP, Acer, and more. Copilot Plus PCs are also expected to increase in cost given they require a minimum of 16GB of RAM and lowering the amount of memory in these devices isn't an option for manufacturers. Overall, IDC says that the average cost of PCs will increase between 4-6% in a best-case situation, or 6-8% if the scenario ends up being more "pessimistic."
"If the smartphone market is facing pressure, the PC market is bracing for disruption. The timing of the memory shortage creates a perfect storm for the PC industry, colliding with the Microsoft Windows 10 end-of-life refresh cycle and the AI PC marketing push," says the IDC in the report.
While the impact of the RAM crisis hit the PC gaming space first, there are now ripple effects tied to other hardware components, including GPUs, with reports stating that Nvidia is lowering GPU production by up to 40% in 2026, and that even legacy components like HDDs are increasing in cost.
As the memory shortage continues, Laptops with only 8GB of RAM could soon be the new normal
If you're looking to buy a mid-range laptop anytime soon, you'll unfortunately need to accept a lower price-to-performance ratio.
Budget smartphones are set to cost notably more next year
High-end handsets won't get a RAM increase in 2026
The IDC's report goes on to say that smartphone prices are poised to shift notably depending on the type of RAM the devices feature, stating that handsets from more China-based, budget-focused brands like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Huawei, and more, will likely pass along memory's higher cost to consumers. Bigger players like Samsung and Apple could potentially make similar phone cost increases. However, there's also a possibility some tech giants were able to "secure memory supply 12-24 months in advance," circumventing the current RAM crisis entirely -- at least for now.
"Manufacturers, whose business is mainly in the low end of the market, are likely to suffer significantly," says the IDC's report.
Backing up a previous report from TrendForce, it's likely that, instead of notably increasing the cost of their smartphones, Samsung's and Apple's devices will stick with 12GB of RAM for higher-end models, rather than increasing to 16GB in 2026. Still, the IDC notes that the average cost of phones could increase somewhere between 3-5% in a moderate situation or in a worse scenario, 6-8%.
You can find the full IDC report here.