Not a great time for PC DDR5 upgrades
An internal SK Hynix analysis shared by Bulls:ab Jay suggests traditional DRAM supply growth will stay constrained through 2028 , excluding HBM and SOCAMM. It also claims supplier inventories are being pushed down toward minimum levels while capacity growth stays limited.
For the consumer PC segment, the company expects PC DRAM production growth to lag demand through 2028. It links the constraint to long lead times for new fabs and slower capacity expansion during technology transitions. It also suggests 2026 PC shipments may stay close to 2025 levels, but memory per system could rise as AI PCs take a bigger share. The same slide claims AI PCs could reach 55% of total PC shipments in 2026.
Source: SK Hynix via BullsLab Jay
On the storage side, it does not expect major consumer growth, but it does point to more QLC products. It also flags upward price pressure if supply stays tight and inventories keep falling.
This lines up with an odd retail example on Amazon, where a Lexar 8GB DDR5-5600 UDIMM is shown as a pre-order with a release date of August 31, 2027. The listing shows a €43.98 price and Amazon as the shipper and seller.
Source: Amazon
The date could be a placeholder, but it still shows how far out some listings are being pushed while memory supply remains under pressure.
Source: 3DCenter , BullLab Jay
