We have reached the seemingly sudden arrival of the RAMageddon tidal wave.
As AI companies gobbled up DRAM and hard drives for expanding and new data centers, it slowly became apparent that a shortage was brewing with a downstream effect that would hit manufacturers and consumers in the pocketbook.
It started earlier this week with the closure of Crucial, a Micron company that sold consumer memory. And now a report from TrendForce suggests Dell, HP, and Lenovo will raise prices heading into 2026.
Dell could raise prices as soon as mid-December
Just before Thanksgiving, Dell COO Jeff Clarke called the memory shortage “unprecedented” during an earnings call with investors.
“We’re in a very unique time. It’s unprecedented. We have not seen costs move at the rate that we’ve seen,” said Clarke, according to CRN. “And by the way, it’s not unique to DRAM, it’s NAND. It is hard drives, leading edge nodes across the semiconductor network.”
Clarke went on to say the last cycle like this was in 2016 and 2017. At the time, Dell prioritized getting parts. Dell is now going to do everything it can to “minimize the impact”, according to Clarke, but cost will go up across all its products.
Sure enough, Trendforce’s industry sources claim Dell is now expected to raise prices between 15-20% as soon as mid-December.
Lenovo is reportedly also warning customers (presumably retailers and enterprise clients) that “all current quotations and prices” will expire on January 1, 2026. The company is blaming the memory shortage and rapid growth of AI tech for the forthcoming price hike.
Product roadmaps derailed by shortage
As the Korean publication Chosun Biz reports, the shock of the memory shortage is causing multiple companies (from Lenovo and Dell to Samsung and LG) to rethink their entire 2026 product roadmaps, including whether to launch new AI-focused PCs and tablets.
"PC companies have no choice but to respond by postponing releases or redesigning products rather than lowering margins,” a Korean PC company rep told Chosun Biz.
During HP’s earnings call at the end of November, HP CEO Enrique Lores expressed similar sentiments. Though Lores did say that the first half of 2026 should be okay for HP since the company currently has a memory stockpile. Bloomberg reported that Lenovo has also begun stockpiling PC memory to get through at least 2026.
Starting in May, though, Lores claimed the shortage will start eating into HP’s product margins. Lores explained that the cost of memory alone now accounts for 15-18% of the cost of producing a typical PC, which is double what it was last year.
Not alone
CyberPowerPC announced last week that it would raise prices starting December 7. Maingear has been telling customers to buy PCs and components now to avoid the coming rate hikes.
PC makers are the canary at this point, but we expect this shortage to hit every tech market. Right now, phone makers are also bracing for hikes. Chinese companies like Xiaomi and Redmi have already told clients that increases between 20% and 30% are coming next year.
And internal divisions at Samsung surrounding memory pricing between the company’s Electronics Device Solutions (DS) and Mobile eXperience (MX) wings could impact the pricing of next year’s Galaxy S26 series. And there is no end in sight. PC Gamer reports that the blooming DRAM prices could run past 2028.
Don’t expect cheaper tech any time soon. Between PC manufacturers hoarding memory and the insatiable appetite of AI companies, it may actually be cheaper to buy a pre-built PC than building one yourself.
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