The rapid expansion of AI-related cloud computing and data centres is fuelling a global memory shortage, driving up the price of memory chips used in everyday electronics, reports US public media outlet NPR.
Electric computer memory products like random access memory (RAM) chips are crucial to electronic devices, providing high-speed, short-term memory that allows users to keep multiple tabs open in a browser or stream videos without lag or stuttering. Data from TrendForce, a Taiwan-based consultancy that tracks markets for computer components, indicates that demand for RAM chips already exceeds supply by 10 percent and shows no signs of slowing down, forcing manufacturers to pay more for the chips each month.
In the last quarter alone, prices for dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips, the most common type of RAM, increased 50 percent. If manufacturers want the chips sooner, the price is two to three times more. The coming quarter is expected to bring a 40-percent increase in DRAM prices. With the trend continuing into 2026, rising costs will be passed onto consumers.
“I keep telling everybody that if you want a device, you buy it now,” Avril Wu, a senior research vice president at TrendForce, told NPR.
[See more: The world’s first wind-powered underwater data centre is in Shanghai]
“AI workloads are built around memory,” Sanchit Vir Gogia, CEO of the tech advisory firm Greyhound Research, told NPR. With AI companies investing billions to rapidly build up data centres around the world, demand for memory chips isn’t just a blip – it’s a fundamental shift.
“Training and inference systems require large, persistent memory footprints, extreme bandwidth, and tight proximity to compute,” he explained. “You cannot dial this down without breaking performance.”
Many memory chipmakers have shifted production to meet this demand, cashing in on the more lucrative high-end memory products used by AI data centres. The resulting decrease in chips for other market segments comes amid a replacement cycle for traditional data centres and PCs, as well as high smartphone sales, exacerbating the shortage.
With so many companies competing for memory products, prices for customers are also expected to rise. Dell Technologies COO Jeff Clarke said on a late November earnings call that PC customers will almost certainly see price increases. Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi and Realme have also warned that they may have to raise prices, one Realme India executive telling Reuters that handset prices could go up 20 to 30 percent by June 2026.
