The great RAM grab has begun

TL;DR: AI giants can afford all the memory they need. Everyone else will pay the price. Companies like Alphabet, Microsoft, and OpenAI are buying up massive amounts of memory to power their AI ambitions, taking up supply that would normally go to consumer tech. The result: higher prices, delayed products, and fewer upgrades for phones, laptops, and TVs. Enter: the “RAMageddon.”

What happened: Building out AI infrastructure is a memory-intensive business. The servers powering chatbots, copilots, and AI tools run on specialized chips that consume vastly more RAM (aka the workhorse of virtually all tech) with each new generation. As tech giants use their deep pockets to snap up millions of these chips to build out data centers, they're consuming a disproportionate share of global memory production.

As of 2021, just three companies—Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron—control over 90% of the world’s DRAM (dynamic random access memory), and right now, they’re allocating more supply to AI infrastructure than personal devices. While suppliers are planning to build new memory fabrication plants, increases in supply likely won’t arrive for years. For now, the pressure is already showing up in prices: The cost of one major kind of DRAM jumped 75% in just a month, from December 2025 to January 2026.

Why it matters: RAM allows your phone to juggle apps, your laptop to run software, and your TV to stream Netflix without freezing. The problem is who's buying it. Tech giants can secure RAM at almost any price, leaving consumer tech companies and their customers competing for what’s left.

What’s affected: Chipmakers like Qualcomm have warned that smartphone manufacturers will face tighter memory supplies and higher costs. (Apple’s feeling the squeeze.) According to The Verge, laptop makers including Lenovo, Dell, and HP are reportedly planning price increases of 10% to 30% to offset rising expenses. Gaming hardware has also taken a hit: Sony’s next PlayStation could get delayed until 2029, and the Nintendo Switch 2 may be more expensive. Even TVs are likely to become pricier, with research firm TrendForce calling increases "unavoidable” and predicting global supply down almost 1%. The squeeze is especially hard on smaller companies, and in some cases, that could mean canceled products. Or companies exiting markets entirely.

What’s next: Industry leaders expect tight supply and elevated prices could continue for years—right now, 2028 looks like the base case for things to go back to normal. It’s not quite like the great Toilet Paper Panic of 2020, so shelves aren’t likely to go empty overnight, but analysts warn consumers will increasingly see higher prices, delayed launches, or devices that deliver less for the same cost. For a list of products affected by the RAM shortage, click here. —AC