The enormous memory prices will be felt by end customers this year, as Dell plans to adjust its prices this month. All other manufacturers will follow.
With DRAM prices skyrocketing, PC manufacturers must increase their prices. Especially in the more entry-level segments, where margins are low, computer builders cannot simply absorb the higher cost of components. We previously reported that HP would raise its prices around spring. Now it appears that Dell isn’t waiting for the new year.
Dell starts, everyone follows
Trendforce knows from internal sources that Dell will increase prices by fifteen to twenty percent, starting from mid-December. Lenovo is already informing customers that quotes and prices are valid until January 1, 2026. After that, the manufacturer will apply new prices. We’ve learned that Acer will also pass on the price increases from the beginning of next year.
The expected price increases are planned for the entire PC segment. Manufacturers will pass on the increased DRAM cost in both the low and high-end spectrum. Also expect configurations that don’t increase in price compared to their predecessors, but have less memory on board.
AI
The demand for memory for AI applications is the culprit. The hunger for AI chips is insatiable given the current production capacity of memory manufacturers. They are therefore focusing on HBM memory, which typically yields more. This reduces the availability of DDR4 and LPDDR5 memory for computers, resulting in price increases of up to almost 200 percent. Ironically, this price increase sometimes makes producing DDR interesting again.