Memory is becoming increasingly expensive, and cloud services are bearing the consequences.
Cloud prices are under pressure. According to OVH CEO Octave Klaba, some cloud services will become five to ten percent more expensive by mid-2026. Cloud providers aren’t choosing this themselves, but it’s due to a global price increase in RAM and NVMe storage.
AI Hardware
Klaba explains that the massive demand for AI chips is causing a domino effect. Memory manufacturers are shifting their production to HBM memory for GPUs, leaving less capacity for traditional RAM and NVMe components. This is driving up prices.
TrendForce sees the spot price of DDR4 rising 158 percent since September 2025; DDR5 is even up 307 percent. Samsung has reportedly already raised its prices by 60 percent.
Increase up to 25 Percent
According to Klaba, hardware suppliers have temporarily hedged by stockpiling components, keeping end products stable until June 2026. But those inventories also create additional price pressure. OVH therefore expects server prices to rise 15 to 25% between December 2025 and the end of 2026.
Cloud services follow that rhythm: five to ten percent more expensive between April and September 2026, though Klaba warns this “could accelerate.”
Back to On-Prem?
Some companies already saw an advantage in scaling back from cloud. Yet analysts don’t expect a massive return to private data centers, especially not for AI workloads. Hyperscalers get faster access to GPUs and AI servers are complex to build and cool yourself.
Higher cloud prices therefore don’t seem to be a brake on AI adoption, but rather a warning that the AI hype is now also affecting infrastructure prices.