The AI Memory Crisis Is Just Getting Started

TL;DR

AI data centers are consuming up to 70% of all memory production, starving consumer markets and tripling PC RAM prices.

Key Points

• 1.Why memory is scarce: Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix — the only three memory makers — are diverting manufacturing capacity from consumer DRAM to High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for AI GPUs, since HBM yields far larger profits.
• 2.Price spike numbers: DDR4 RAM tripled from $50 to $150 (16GB); DDR5 quadrupled from $100 to $400 (16GB); 1TB SSDs more than doubled from $100 to $220 — all since late 2025.
• 3.When consumers feel it: PC makers currently hold months of cheaper stockpiled inventory, but that runs out around summer 2026 — at which point a $630 gaming laptop could jump to $1,200+.
• 4.Mac users somewhat shielded: Apple's M-series chips use integrated memory and Apple's long-term supplier contracts delay price pass-through, while also squeezing more performance per GB than standard PC RAM.
• 5.The inevitable bust: New factories (e.g., Micron's New York plant) won't produce until late 2028. When they do, VC funding will likely have dried up and the AI bubble will pop, creating the largest memory glut ever seen.