Summary
- Samsung reportedly doubles DDR5 contract prices to ~$19.50, over a 100% increase.
- Samsung says it has "no stock" left, forcing buyers into high prices or waiting.
- PC builds get pricier; 8GB laptops may become the default amid a memory crunch.
Well, it's no surprise that RAM has gotten very expensive as of late. As the AI industry begins to consume the hardware market, we're seeing companies raise the price of their hardware in response or even shutter their consumer-facing side to fully devote all their time to producing for businesses.
This caused some people to worryingly look over to Samsung, speculating that the company was planning to also exit the consumer market. Fortunately, the company confirmed it had no intention of withdrawing products from shelves, although it does reportedly have a different problem: a lack of anything to sell. In response, the company is seemingly doubling the price of its RAM.
Reports claim that Samsung is increasing its RAM prices by 100%
It's not exactly a huge surprise at this point
As spotted by Tom's Guide, this report comes to us via @jukan05 over on X. In a post, Jukan reports that Taiwanese media is currently aflame with the news that Samsung is deciding to bump up its RAM prices. This would put the DDR5 contract price up to $19.50, which is
an increase of "more than 100% compared to the previous contract price."
Unfortunately, it seems that high prices aren't the only woes that RAM buyers are going through right now. @jukan05 goes on to claim that Samsung just flat-out doesn't have any RAM left to sell anymore:
According to the Taiwanese media's description, Samsung threw up its hands and notified downstream customers that there is "no stock!" The industry views this tactic as quite ruthless. This is because, whether customers choose to stick with the DDR4 specification or transition their product designs to DDR5, they are forced to pay unavoidably high prices. With nowhere to run, they are in a situation where they have no choice but to obediently await their fate.
That last part is especially resonant with the current PC building scene. It really does feel like we're all just waiting to see how all of this will shake out, with no way to change its path. Right now, we're looking at laptops with 8GB of RAM becoming the new normal, and while PC builds are obviously getting pricier, there are also several silent victims of the looming memory crisis.
