What the DRAM price surge means and why it is happening
The current DRAM price surge is a sustained, record-breaking rise in the cost of commodity and server memory, driven by exploding AI demand and long‑term supply limits that are expected to keep the market tight through 2028. In May, DRAMeXchange reported that average PC‑use DDR4 8Gb chips reached USD 20 (approx. RM92), up from USD 16 (approx. RM73) in April, the highest level since tracking began. TrendForce noted that second‑quarter PC DRAM contract prices climbed 40% to 50% from the previous quarter, after an earlier spike of 100% to 115%. At the same time, ADATA’s Simon Chen and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang warn that structural memory deficits and limited DRAM capacity are now the main bottleneck for scaling AI infrastructure, turning what was once a commodity into a strategic resource for both consumer PCs and data centers.
AI memory demand and why shortages may last to 2028
AI servers are now absorbing a huge share of global memory output, leaving far less DRAM and NAND available for mainstream PCs. Team Group CEO Gerry Chen estimates that AI‑related demand already accounts for around 40% to 50% of the entire memory market, across both DRAM and NAND. According to Chen Simon and other executives, the market is facing “structural memory deficits until 2028” even as Micron transitions its Manassas facility to the 1‑alpha DRAM process. That upgrade will multiply DDR4 wafer output fourfold, but the extra supply is earmarked for long‑lifecycle sectors such as automotive, defense, aerospace, industrial networking, and medical devices, not commodity PC memory. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang has called memory supply “the single biggest impediment to scaling AI infrastructure,” and AI workloads are shifting toward more demanding reasoning and agentic tasks that will pull even more capacity away from the consumer market.
How record DRAM and NAND prices hit PC builders and Dell’s servers
For PC builders, the effect of the DRAM price surge is already visible in higher DDR4 DDR5 prices and SSD costs. DRAMeXchange data shows PC‑use DDR4 8Gb chips at USD 20 (approx. RM92) in May, while commodity NAND MLC 128Gb products climbed to USD 26.51 (approx. RM122), after a roughly 280% rise since early last year. Team Group notes that most memory production for 2026–2027 is already booked by AI customers, tightening supply further for retail kits and system integrators. UBS reports that in some regions, memory prices for AI‑focused parts have jumped as much as 414%, while PC makers faced 110% higher memory prices in the first quarter of 2026 to secure supply. Dell has so far managed these costs, but UBS warns the impact on its PC and server margins will be more severe in late 2026 and early 2027.
Hybrid DDR4/DDR5 platforms and practical options through 2028
With a prolonged memory shortage to 2028 and steadily rising RAM and SSD prices, both home PC builders and enterprise buyers need to think defensively. One emerging hardware strategy is using hybrid DDR4/DDR5 motherboard designs that support both standards: this gives buyers flexibility to install cheaper DDR4 now and switch to DDR5 later, or mix procurement depending on which segment is under less pressure. While such boards cannot run both types of memory simultaneously in the same channel, they can ease PC builder costs over an upgrade cycle and reduce exposure to sudden spikes in DDR4 DDR5 prices. On the storage side, manufacturers like Team Group expect SSD prices to keep climbing alongside DRAM, as NAND stays tight. For businesses planning server rollouts, this points to locking in multiyear memory contracts early and sizing configurations carefully instead of over‑provisioning.
