A steep change in component budgets
Consumer memory prices reached exceptional levels by August 17, 2026, with some high-capacity DDR5 kits approaching a 500% increase over 12 months, according to an analysis by Tom’s Hardware. The figures were drawn from historical tracking and current average prices collected through PCPartPicker, which the publication described as approximate but broadly representative.
A standard 64GB kit containing two 32GB DDR5-5600 modules had cost less than $200 during the previous summer but was listed above $1,100 in the latest comparison. Another kit rose from $72 to $392 in one year. At the most extreme end of the tracker, a 128GB DDR5 kit reached $3,399—ten times its lowest previously recorded price.
Lower capacity and speed tiers were less expensive, but did not escape the increase. Buyers remaining on older AMD AM4 or Intel LGA1700 platforms also faced higher costs. Demand shifting toward DDR4 helped push prices for those kits up by roughly 120% to almost 180%; one example moved from $105 to $281.
The pattern extended beyond the United States. Data from German publication ComputerBase put average European RAM prices 345% above September 2025 levels. That tracker also showed hard-drive and solid-state-drive prices rising more than 125% over the same period.
AI demand reshapes supply
Tom’s Hardware attributed the shortage largely to high-volume buyers serving AI data centers. The report said hyperscale customers had already reserved almost all global DRAM production capacity for 2027, including advance payments to secure supply. PC and smartphone manufacturers were described as lower-priority customers competing for what remained.
The evidence does not provide the underlying capacity contracts, so that point remains a reported industry claim rather than an independently verified total. It does, however, align with the publication’s account of revenue growth across SK hynix, Samsung, Micron and China’s CXMT, whose sales were said to have doubled, tripled or risen even more over one year.
Memory-industry executives offered little expectation of quick relief. SK hynix chief executive Kwak Noh-jung forecast that 2027 would be the worst supply year in the sector’s history and said demand could exceed production through 2030. ADATA chairman Simon Chen suggested the shortage might last a decade and rejected the expectation that an AI-market downturn would soon end it.
Those forecasts are judgments, not guarantees. New capacity, weaker demand or changes in AI investment could alter the trajectory. The price comparisons also represent snapshots and averages rather than every product or retailer.
For PC builders, the immediate effect is clearer than the long-term outlook. Memory has shifted from a predictable budget line to one that can dominate an upgrade. Moving to DDR4 no longer avoids the squeeze, while storage prices show that competition for components and manufacturing investment is affecting more than a single generation of RAM.
