The new entry price for computing: why cheap PCs are disappearing
The current DRAM supply crisis is a global shortage of computer memory driven by AI data-center demand, which has sharply increased memory costs, forced PC makers to raise laptop prices, and is rapidly eliminating traditional budget options under the old entry-level price brackets.
Budget PCs are not merely more expensive; they are being priced out of existence. Memory and storage prices have exploded since the second half of 2025, and the impact has finally hit the shelves, pushing up the total cost of every new laptop. Apple is the latest to announce significant price increases across laptops, desktops, and tablets as those higher component costs roll through its lineup. When entry-level RAM gets expensive, the whole idea of a cheap laptop collapses. What used to be the on-ramp to the digital world is turning into a toll gate, and buyers are discovering there is no going back to “normal” pricing.
AI’s appetite for DRAM is starving the budget PC
The heart of the problem is that AI infrastructure now eats most of the world’s memory supply. Massive banks of DRAM are critical to peak AI performance, so AI-compute giants are buying every chip manufacturers can produce. This year, AI-centric memory is projected to consume 70% of global memory hardware production, leaving far less capacity for consumer PCs and phones. Memory makers are diverting lines to high-bandwidth and server-grade products, squeezing supplies of standard DRAM and NAND for laptops and smartphones.
The result is a brutal RAM price increase that hits the bottom of the market hardest. The cost per gigabit of video memory has more than tripled in six months, pushing graphics cards and therefore laptops sharply higher in price. Major laptop brands expect 15% to 30% price hikes on systems as memory cost laptop prices move in lockstep. As one quotable takeaway: “Rising component costs are eroding vendor margins on entry-level devices, making them commercially unviable.”
The budget PC shortage: fewer options, higher starting prices
The budget PC shortage in 2026 is already showing up in sales data. Unit sales of sub-$500 PCs dropped 18.7 percent in the first quarter as the sub-$500 bracket rapidly disappears and laptop makers pivot to higher-end machines. Memory costs are expected to keep entry-level prices elevated through 2027, which will suppress consumer demand and reset what “cheap” means in practice. Analysts also point to a hangover from the Windows 11 refresh cycle, which pulled forward purchases and exhausted much of the near-term upgrade pipeline.
On the ground, consumers are feeling the budget PC shortage in several ways. Some are delaying purchases amid higher price tags and tough economic conditions. Others discover that models they recognize are still on sale but cost noticeably more than last year. The selection of under-$500 laptops is shrinking, and 4GB configurations are likely to reappear in the very cheapest systems as manufacturers try to keep advertised prices from climbing even higher. A so‑called budget laptop that once sold with comfortable RAM now offers less memory at a higher price, a stealth downgrade wrapped in new marketing.
Permanent price floors: why RAM may never be cheap again
The most worrying trend is that this is not a passing spike; it is a structural reset. Top memory makers expect the DRAM supply crisis to last through 2030, as AI software and hardware giants lock in future production with long-term contracts. One major PC manufacturer has gone so far as to say that RAM and SSD prices will “probably never” return to the wallet-friendly levels of 2025. In the same breath, it warned that the world should prepare for a “new normal” for RAM prices from around 2030 onward.
Meanwhile, other players illustrate how permanent this shift could be. A leading memory giant has exited the direct-to-consumer DRAM market entirely, shutting down a well-known upgrade brand to focus on enterprise clients. Another storage maker has declared that the age of cheap SSDs is over. These moves are not the behavior of companies expecting a quick reversion. Even if some voices hope the market might settle in a couple of years, the consensus is that tight RAM supply is the new normal and the DRAM supply crisis is not going away.
Who gets left behind—and what realistic alternatives remain
The combination of supply constraints and AI infrastructure competition is quietly drawing a new line between those who can afford a modern PC and those who cannot. Fewer affordable options mean first-time buyers, students, and budget-conscious households are being priced out as entry prices climb. Budget systems and Chromebooks may avoid the worst of the RAM price increase because they already ship with 4GB or 8GB of memory, but even here a modest percentage hike can turn a $500 laptop into something far more expensive when margins are thin. When the cheapest tier moves up, entire groups of users are pushed toward shared devices or no device at all.
What affordable laptop alternatives remain? One practical path is to look backward instead of forward. Older 2024 or 2025 laptops and early-generation chips, priced before the RAM crunch, may offer better value than newly released models loaded with expensive memory. Another option is to seek refurbished or off-lease machines while they still exist at reasonable prices. But these are short-term workarounds. If AI data centers continue to claim most of the world’s DRAM production, consumers will be forced to accept that owning a capable personal computer is no longer a low-cost default—it is a significant investment with a rising floor.
