Memory markets are currently facing a significant supply shortage, with December contract prices for key DRAM categories increasing by 80 to 100%, according to Team Group general manager Gerry Chen. He described this substantial price hike as the beginning of a multiyear memory upcycle and warned that the most severe impact will be felt in the first half of 2026, once distributors deplete their inventories. This price shock is already affecting the system bills of materials for OEMs, with memory's share in PC and notebook BOMs rising from the mid-teens to the mid-20s and higher, depending on the configuration.

Costs for DDR5 and SSDs have, on average, increased two to three times. For overall DRAM, it is 171.8% year-over-year . Cloud service providers are securing allocations for 2026 and 2027, which reduces the available supply for consumer and mainstream devices. This situation risks significant shipment declines in cost-sensitive segments like mainstream PCs, notebooks, and Chromebooks. However, even the powerful hyperscalers cannot secure all the DRAM allocations, as Tier-1 U.S. and Chinese cloud order books are filled to an effective 70% capacity, eliminating the safety stock that most buyers thought they had secured.