Why RAM, SSD and Server Prices Exploded in 2025–2026: Inside the Global Memory Crisis
AI data centers are absorbing the world's memory supply. A 32GB DDR5 kit now costs nearly five times its pre-shortage price, server memory is set to rise about 270% in 2026, and relief is not expected before 2027.
Calculated from the retail RAM price series used in The 1 TB Test (price per TB ÷ 32).
For more than a decade, memory and storage got cheaper almost every year. That pattern has now reversed.
Since early 2025, prices for RAM, SSDs, PCs and servers have risen faster than at any time in recent memory. A mainstream 32GB DDR5 memory kit that cost about $95 before the shortage was selling for around $456 in mid-October 2026. Server memory prices are expected to rise roughly 270% this year alone.
This is not a short-term or seasonal price swing. It reflects a structural shift in the semiconductor market, driven mainly by demand for AI infrastructure meeting a limited supply of memory.
This article explains what has happened since 2025, how large the increases are, and what the latest forecasts suggest for 2027.
How it started: late 2025
The first wave of increases arrived in the second half of 2025:
- Industry reporting compiled by Tom’s Hardware showed DRAM prices in some segments rising by more than 150% year over year, with certain DRAM and NAND prices nearly doubling within a single month in late 2025.
- System builders cited by The Verge reported that consumer RAM kits, particularly DDR5, had more than tripled in price since early autumn 2025, with some configurations up as much as 400–500%. These were individual cases rather than an industry-wide average.
- Major PC and server makers, including Dell and Lenovo, prepared price increases of up to 15% on servers and PCs, citing DRAM costs and AI demand (Tom’s Hardware).
At the time, many buyers expected a short spike. Instead, prices kept climbing through 2026.
Where prices stand now (October 2026)
RAM
| Price | |
|---|---|
| Cheapest 32GB DDR5 kit before the shortage | about $95 |
| Cheapest tracked 32GB DDR5-6000 kit, 16 October 2026 | $456 |
Source: Capital and Compute – DDR5 price tracker.
That is close to a fivefold increase for the same product. Contract prices, which large buyers pay to suppliers, are still rising too, though more slowly. TrendForce expects conventional DRAM contract prices to rise another 10–15% quarter over quarter in Q4 2026 (TrendForce, 30 September 2026).
Servers and data centers
Data centers have seen the largest increases, in both memory and storage:
2026 figures are TrendForce projections for the full year. Source: TrendForce, 25 August 2026.
In Q3 2026 alone, TrendForce expected server DRAM contract prices to rise another 13–18% (TrendForce, 9 July 2026). Some large cloud providers have signed multi-year supply agreements that limit how much suppliers can raise prices for them. As a result, most of the recent increases fall on buyers without such agreements.
SSD and NAND flash
- NAND flash contract prices are forecast to rise another 15–20% in Q4 2026. Enterprise SSDs are the only category where price growth is expected to speed up, because most new supply is already committed (TrendForce).
- To keep costs down, PC brands are reducing SSD capacity in mainstream models (TrendForce).
PCs, laptops and smartphones
Higher memory prices are now reaching finished devices. Prices go up and, as a result, fewer devices are sold:
Source: Gartner, 26 February 2026.
Memory is expected to make up as much as 23% of a PC’s component cost, up from 16% in 2025. IDC’s forecast is similar: average PC selling prices up 17% and shipments down 11.3% in 2026 (IDC, June 2026).
Gartner also expects the sub-$500 entry-level PC segment to disappear by 2028, as higher memory costs make the cheapest laptops unprofitable to build.
Why prices rose so sharply
Four forces built on each other. Relief depends on a fifth: new factories.
- 2023Production cutWeak PC and phone demand led memory makers to reduce output.
- 2024AI demand surgesData centers begin buying memory far faster than expected.
- 2025Capacity moves to HBMMakers shift production toward high-margin AI memory.
- Late 2025 to early 2026StockpilingPC makers and distributors order ahead, tightening supply further.
- Second half of 2027New factories ramp upServer DRAM and HBM supply expected to grow about 27% in 2027.
AI infrastructure is absorbing global memory supply
AI servers need far more memory than traditional systems:
| Server type | Typical memory per server |
|---|---|
| Typical business server | 128–256 GB |
| AI training server | 1–8 TB |
The scale of spending is now enormous. TrendForce projects that capital spending by the largest cloud providers will nearly double (up 98%) in 2026, and that memory will account for a growing share of it:
Projections. Source: TrendForce, 25 August 2026.
Every chip reserved for AI data centers is a chip not available for PCs, phones or smaller businesses.
Memory makers shifted toward high-margin HBM
Memory manufacturers, including Samsung, SK hynix and Micron, have increasingly prioritized:
- HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory) for AI accelerators
- High-capacity server DRAM
- Enterprise SSDs
These products earn much higher margins than consumer memory, so production capacity has moved toward them. TrendForce warns that PC DRAM supply could even decline in 2027 as more capacity shifts to servers (TrendForce).
Production cuts in 2023 met AI demand in 2024–2026
In 2023, memory manufacturers reduced production because PC and smartphone demand was weak. From 2024, AI demand grew much faster than expected.
New chip factories take years to build and equip, so supply could not catch up quickly. That gap is still open in 2026.
Stockpiling deepened the shortage
As prices rose, PC makers, distributors and buyers placed larger orders to secure supply. Gartner noted that PC shipments rose 4% in Q1 2026 mainly because PC makers and distributors built up inventory ahead of expected price increases, not because of genuine demand (Gartner, 10 April 2026). This kind of advance buying tightens availability further and adds to upward price pressure.
Who is affected
Consumers
- A memory upgrade now costs several times what it did in 2024.
- Mainstream laptops are shipping with less RAM and smaller SSDs to hold prices down.
- Gartner expects people to keep their devices longer: about 20% longer for consumers and 15% for business buyers by the end of 2026.
Businesses
- Servers, storage and PC fleets all cost more to buy and replace.
- Purchasing timelines are getting longer, and price quotes are valid for shorter periods.
- Memory capacity planning has become a strategic concern.
AI companies
Even the companies driving demand face higher costs. Memory and storage have become major bottlenecks alongside GPUs, and are now the largest single share of cloud providers’ planned spending.
What comes next: the 2027 outlook
The latest forecasts point to slower increases, not falling prices:
- Increases are slowing. Quarterly contract price rises have eased from very large jumps in 2025 to 10–20% per quarter in late 2026. TrendForce notes that wafer prices have reached levels that downstream retail channels are “increasingly unable to absorb” (TrendForce).
- Supply stays tight through 2027. IDC does not expect relief from the memory shortage before the end of 2027 (IDC). TrendForce expects server memory supply to grow only 15–20% in 2027 (TrendForce).
- New factories arrive late. New fabs ramping up in the second half of 2027 are expected to lift combined server DRAM and HBM supply by about 27% that year (TrendForce).
- HBM keeps getting more expensive. HBM contract prices could still rise 70–140% in 2027 (TrendForce).
The market has entered a multi-year period of higher prices. The most likely path for 2027 is that prices stay high and rise more slowly, with real relief depending on when new factories reach full output.
Conclusion: a structural shift, not a temporary spike
For more than a decade, falling memory and storage prices were taken for granted. The events of 2025–2026 reversed that assumption.
AI has turned memory from a commodity into a strategic resource. Higher prices for RAM, SSDs, PCs and servers are not an anomaly; they are a consequence of a new era in computing.
Understanding this shift now matters for consumers, businesses and policymakers alike, especially when planning purchases and budgets for 2027.
Key terms
- DRAM / RAM: a computer’s working memory. DDR5 is the current generation.
- NAND flash: the memory chips used inside SSDs.
- HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory): a fast, stacked type of DRAM used in AI accelerators.
- Contract vs retail price: contract prices are agreed in advance between large buyers and suppliers; retail prices are what consumers pay in shops and online.
- QoQ (quarter over quarter): the change compared with the previous three months.
Sources
Forecasts and market data: TrendForce – 4Q26 memory contract price outlook (30 Sep 2026) · TrendForce – memory share of cloud provider spending (25 Aug 2026) · TrendForce – 3Q26 server DRAM outlook (9 Jul 2026) · Gartner – memory costs and 2026 PC and smartphone shipments (26 Feb 2026) · Gartner – Q1 2026 PC shipments (10 Apr 2026) · IDC – PC market and the memory shortage through 2027 (Jun 2026)
Prices: Capital and Compute – DDR5 price tracker · Tom’s Hardware – Dell and Lenovo server and PC price increases
Background reporting (2025): The Verge, Tom’s Hardware, The Register, Reuters, Bloomberg and Windows Central coverage of the memory shortage.