In recent months the price of RAM memories has skyrocketed, with increases of up to 300%. Artificial intelligence is to blame. Going into detail, the AI explosion has required the construction of many data centers hosting well-known services such as ChatGpt or Google Gemini. This very powerful hardware requires massive amounts of very high performance HBM (High Bandwidth Memory). Since this memory is more profitable than traditional DDR5 RAM for PCs and smartphones, manufacturers have converted their factories to dedicate them to AI, significantly reducing the manufacturing of RAM intended for computers and mobile phones. The drastic reduction in supply, with stable demand, therefore led to a very strong increase in the price of Ram. Furthermore, a similar situation is affecting the sector of SSDs and graphics cards intended for video game enthusiasts, with very high-end models that have even exceeded 4,500 euros.
All this has already brought significant increases for the final consumer. According to the most recent forecasts, the prices of gaming PCs and user-assembled computers could rise by up to 30-40% over the course of the year. As regards pre-assembled PCs from the most well-known brands, the price increase will be lower thanks also to the long-term agreements stipulated between large memory manufacturers and companies such as Apple and HP. However, the RAM crisis will bring less variety of pre-assembled desktop PC and notebook models, a reduced possibility of customization and, ultimately, less freedom of choice for the end consumer.
Furthermore, the Ram crisis will also affect new smartphones. High-end models will be among the most exposed to the price increase, while in the cheaper segments, experts even predict a return to basic configurations with just 4 GB of RAM.
As for the future, this crisis situation with high prices could extend at least until 2027. A crisis that could expand and also affect other sectors such as new consoles, for example the next Xbox next gen. Finally, the most pessimistic hypothesize a future collapse of the market for PC components and computers assembled by users and the closure of many companies specialized in this sector (for example RAM and graphics cards for video game enthusiasts).
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