Overview
- Industry reports and executives on Friday said DRAM prices have surged since October 2025 as memory makers shifted wafer capacity to high-bandwidth memory used in AI data centres, creating a global shortage for smartphone and PC memory.
- Manufacturers such as Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron are prioritising HBM and server DRAM because those products yield higher margins, which cuts the wafer supply available for the DRAM used in everyday devices.
- Analysts warn the price squeeze will lift retail costs and cut shipments: Gartner forecasts a 130% rise in combined DRAM and SSD contract prices by end-2026 and predicts double-digit declines in PC and smartphone shipments for 2026.
- Nothing CEO Carl Pei and market researchers say memory is now the single largest cost inside many phones, and several recent models have launched up to $100 more than their predecessors with discounted sale prices expected to shrink.
- The squeeze is likely to push makers to raise prices, trim low-end shipments or downgrade specs, which could lengthen upgrade cycles, concentrate demand on premium models and raise security and management challenges for older devices.