The RAMpocalypse driving up prices
It can hardly have escaped anyone’s notice that the prices of memory chips — both DRAM for RAM, and NAND for storage — have skyrocketed over the past year. Higher-capacity memory modules are four to five times more expensive today than they were a year ago.
Price increases of 400 percent are not an everyday occurrence in any industry, least of all the electronics sector, where prices usually tend to fall over time. These high prices are having knock-on effects, such as higher prices for other products due to increased costs for manufacturers, and financial difficulties for smaller manufacturers who can neither absorb the higher purchase prices nor raise their own prices sufficiently without losing too many customers.
Almost everything that contains memory and storage has become more expensive, particularly computers and components such as graphics cards, but also mobile phones and tablets, games consoles and even routers.
Almost, but not quite, everything. The fact is that there are still product categories where the usual trend towards ever-cheaper electronics continues. A clear example is monitors, where you get much more for your money today than just a few years ago, and that trend looks set to continue.
Do you want to play games with a high refresh rate, vibrant colors, and deep blacks using an OLED display? At the time of writing, for example, you can get 1440p resolution at 240Hz for less than $400 (Gigabyte GO27Q24G).
If, on the other hand, you’re looking for high resolution to ensure text is as sharp as possible, you can get a 4K monitor for $300 or less — for example, the LG 27US550-W and the Samsung Viewfinity S70D. See our roundup of the best monitors for more recommendations.
Other exceptions include cases, power supplies, and coolers. Processors and motherboards held their ground for a long time, but have now also risen in price as manufacturers shift resources towards products for the lucrative data center market.
All signs suggest that memory prices will rise further before stabilizing, and that no price reductions are to be expected before the end of 2027. So don’t count on prices suddenly returning to more normal levels.