Say goodbye to budget PCs and smartphones – memory is too expensive now
The Register
February 26, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
Soaring memory prices are reshaping the tech landscape, with entry-level PCs and smartphones at risk of becoming unaffordable. Analysts predict a significant decline in global PC shipments—over 10% this year—as vendors struggle to meet rising demand for DRAM and NAND flash memory driven by AI. The same trend is expected to impact smartphones, with a projected 8% drop in shipments. Budget PCs, typically priced below $500, are at risk of disappearing as vendors cannot afford to produce them at competitive prices. Gartner warns that memory costs could surge by an additional 130% by the end of 2026, making entry-level devices increasingly out of reach for cost-conscious buyers.
The rise in memory prices is being fueled by AI's insatiable demand for advanced hardware and processing power. PCs equipped with AI capabilities require more memory to support tasks like Copilot+, Microsoft's AI platform, which mandates at least 16 GB of RAM. Gartner recommends 32 GB for new enterprise PCs, further driving up costs. While vendors could increase the prices of budget PCs to offset rising memory costs, price-sensitive buyers are unlikely to accept these hikes. This shift is forcing manufacturers to focus on premium models, leaving entry-level devices in jeopardy.
The impact extends beyond PCs to smartphones and other AI-driven devices. These systems require significant memory resources to support advanced processing tasks, pushing vendors to prioritize higher-priced models. HP has already seen DRAM costs rise from 15-18% of total PC production costs to a staggering 35
Verticals
tech
Originally published on The Register on 2/26/2026