The latest hardware crisis that's driving up the prices of consumer tech is not expected to get any better any time soon, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Memory and storage — in the forms of both solid-state drives and hard-disk drives — are experiencing a severe drought, and it's driven by the winds of what many consider to be only the initial phase of the AI revolution.
DRAM and NAND are required by AI datacenters to support the specialized GPUs and TPUs that power leading AI models like ChatGPT and Gemini. Thanks to having deeper pockets than the rest of us, AI firms are buying up DRAM supply years in advance, and they're not leaving much for other markets.
According to the report, AI datacenters will use 70% of all high-end DRAM production in 2026. The squeeze already drove up memory prices by about 50% in the last three months of 2025, and TrendForce sees prices rising by another 70% in 2026 due to persisting shortages.
IDC has already warned that the PC market is in for an "extremely volatile" year, echoing the findings of a separate analyst group, Omdia. While some of the larger brands, like Lenovo, HP, Dell, and ASUS, are better positioned to work around shortages, IDC believes the market could shrink by up to 9%. I'm expecting that number to change as 2026 progresses.
Get ready for the RAM squeeze to hit all consumer tech in 2026
The main argument in the WSJ report doesn't exactly center around PCs. DRAM (and NAND) chips are used in practically every digital gadget you use daily, from your phone and laptop to your TV to your car and smart home appliances.
Although AI datacenters use specialized HBM memory, it's created using the same DRAM chips that go into consumer RAM. The money is so good on the AI side that Micron announced late-2025 it was killing its consumer Crucial brand to focus entirely on supplying the AI market.
Because AI firms are crowding out other buyers of memory, unexpected consequences are likely to reverberate across countless industries. Effects could include delayed data centers, higher prices for laptops, TVs and other consumer electronics, and possible chip shortages for automakers that would delay vehicle production, in a potential repeat of the pandemic car crisis.
Christopher Mims, Wall Street Journal
Despite the world's three largest DRAM manufacturers expanding existing manufacturing facilities or planning entirely new plants — Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix produce 90% of the world's supply — global demand will continue to severely outpace production.
The WSJ quotes Avril Wu, senior research VP at TrendForce, as suggesting that the newfound production won't make a noticeable difference in global supply until 2028. As research director MS Hwang, from Counterpoint Research, points out to WSJ, the big DRAM producers are already selling capacity for 2027 and 2028.
The report is capped off with another quote from Hwang, in which they suggest that "there is no limit" to how much manufacturers will pay for memory. Of course, that sentiment begs a different question: How much are we, the consumers, willing to pay for the tech that's become integral to our modern lives?
(via Tom's Hardware)
Can anything stop the DRAM and NAND shortages that are threatening to drive up the prices of all consumer tech? How are you preparing for the squeeze? Let me know in the comments section below!
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