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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Jason England

The era of cheap PCs may be over — RAM prices are about to jump 15% with no relief until 2028

IDC Jitesh Ubrani Tom Guide Apple United States Windows
RAM stick on US dollars.

If you’re looking to buy a well-priced PC or tablet in 2026, the “wait and see” approach isn’t going to work, as the IDC just put out a damning forecast that prices will continue to skyrocket — only beginning to level out in 2028.

While the first huge shock has already happened, experts are predicting the average selling prices (ASPs) will continue to go up by another $115 over the next 12 months. And because companies seem intent on focusing on high-end/premium devices to extract maximum value per GB of RAM used, this may be the death of the budget PC.

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