WATCH OUT FOR RAM PRICES!

gunrunnerjohn · Mar 15, 2026

AK6DN said:
Inflation is not just supply and demand (which is what is now causing the RAM price spikes).
Tariffs, the cost of component parts/materials, labor cost, transportation costs all factor into cost inflation over time.
Inflation is not just driven by supply and demand.

My comment was specifically regarding the recent memory price increases, and that is most certainly caused by supply vs demand. The memory manufacturers can't supply all the demand, that is pretty obvious.

Obviously, there is not one blanket reason for price changes in all the various products that we buy, and I never addressed the issue of every cost driver.

DJNelson · Mar 15, 2026

The price of RAM, SSDs, and high-end GPUs are going through the roof because of AI data centers. A single AI data center can consume hundreds of megawatts of power, which also means electric bills increase unless the local power supply is increased proportionately. Combine this with the fact that there are millions of computers that stop working whenever Microsoft issues a feature update, and it starts to look like a conspiracy to commit fraud on a massive scale.

AK6DN · Mar 15, 2026

PerpetualCycle said:
Market not individual stocks

Ah yes but Micron stock price increase is a directly correlated to the massive RAM price increase over the last year (which was your original complaint).

PerpetualCycle · Mar 15, 2026

AK6DN said:
Ah yes but Micron stock price increase is a directly correlated to the massive RAM price increase over the last year (which was your original complaint).

No

PCUser · Mar 16, 2026

pseymour said:
It's a joke, not a scam. That site's been around for over ten years probably.

Since 2012

Wolfzz · Mar 18, 2026

'The current shortage could continue until 2030, so we expect more than a 20% shortage of the wafers'

https://www.techradar.com/computing/memory/the-current-shortage-could-continue-until-2030-so-we-expect-more-than-a-20-percent-shortage-of-the-wafers-sk-group-chairman-issues-bleak-warning-on-ram-crisis

Wolfzz · Mar 26, 2026

Forget the RAM crisis — storage prices are spiraling, and processors could be next, as gaming PC maker warns 'CPU shortage is getting more serious'

https://www.techradar.com/computing/cpu/forget-the-ram-crisis-storage-prices-are-spiralling-and-processors-could-be-next-as-gaming-pc-maker-warns-cpu-shortage-is-getting-more-serious

SIW2 · Mar 26, 2026

Shopping around helps. The samsung 870 evo 500gb is £110 at amazon, but argos have it at £75

SIW2 · Mar 29, 2026

ssd [price increases] are far worse

DJNelson · Mar 29, 2026

Nothing to see here, just a little collusion between Google, Microsoft, etc and the hardware manufacturers to offload a large portion of the cost of their data centers on the average consumer by not increasing production in proportion to demand. The notion that MS actually gives a rat's rear-end about "carbon emissions" is laughable.

XxXxX · Mar 29, 2026

im hoping this AI bubble bursts and there is a lot of companies going to go bang with it.
when it does they brought this upon themselves, AI has got a lot to answer for.

thankfully i will be keeping my computer for many many years.
best of luck Steve ..

DJNelson · Mar 29, 2026

XxXxX said:
AI has got a lot to answer for.

AI hasn't even taken over yet, and we're already being enslaved by it.

z3r010 · Mar 29, 2026

XxXxX said:
AI has got a lot to answer for.

gunrunnerjohn · Mar 29, 2026

I bought my replacement computers a year ago, everything was quite cheap. I replaced both my main and backup systems, my laptop, and I picked up a little mini-box for use as a video controller. I got 64GB of memory, the main and backup systems each got 10TB of storage in four physical drives. I don't think I'll be shopping for memory or processors anytime soon.

AK6DN · Mar 29, 2026

DJNelson said:
Nothing to see here, just a little collusion between Google, Microsoft, etc and the hardware manufacturers to offload a large portion of the cost of their data centers on the average consumer by not increasing production in proportion to demand. The notion that MS actually gives a rat's rear-end about "carbon emissions" is laughable.

Well, it is not a trivial exercise for a true hardware manufacturer of memory, disk drives, processors, whatever to double or triple production on short notice. It takes logistics planning, opening new factories, establishing new supply channels. All expensive and time consuming operations.

OTOH, all the AI developers and suppliers can submit outrageous phantom orders based on specious requirements and essentially lock down the existing supply chains with those orders, driving up current prices and driving down current availability.

When, and even more if, all these orders are fulfilled is the trillion dollar question. Or maybe those orders magically just get cancelled when the backers of the AI revolution get cold feet and find out they can't monetize their investment. Then we have a supply gut of components.

Going to be an interesting next few years.

Scannerman · Mar 30, 2026

AK6DN said:
Well, it is not a trivial exercise for a true hardware manufacturer of memory, disk drives, processors, whatever to double or triple production on short notice. It takes logistics planning, opening new factories, establishing new supply channels. All expensive and time consuming operations.

OTOH, all the AI developers and suppliers can submit outrageous phantom orders based on specious requirements and essentially lock down the existing supply chains with those orders, driving up current prices and driving down current availability.

When, and even more if, all these orders are fulfilled is the trillion dollar question. Or maybe those orders magically just get cancelled when the backers of the AI revolution get cold feet and find out they can't monetize their investment. Then we have a supply gut of components.

Going to be an interesting next few years.

Microsoft already has a patent on storage that is entirely revolutionary. You don't hear much about it but it essentially amounts to storage on glass. Instead of electricity the storage is reads and writes via light. Just how far along they are in development and whether they have found a way to make it economically viable I will not surmise. Howbeit methinks that even if they were 100% successful in this venture they would hold this card for the most strategic play. I suspect that it will be after they have pretty much coerced users onto Cloud based platforms with PCs that pretty much amount to glorified word processors. We won't need massive amounts of memory because everything will be done online via AI. I would imagine that the glass storage will only be available to the commercial industry while we the plebs will just have to be content with what we get. Everything gets directly uploaded to the Cloud. Those unwilling to comply will simply be expected to pay through the nose or go without. That's where I see it all going.

pseymour · Mar 30, 2026

Project Silica is WORM storage, so it's not "writes," it's "write," singular. Not a replacement for the storage being talked about here. It's long-term storage to replace magnetic storage and such.

Scannerman said:
We won't need massive amounts of memory because everything will be done online via AI.

And that's just hilarious.

Scannerman · Mar 30, 2026

pseymour said:
Project Silica is WORM storage, so it's not "writes," it's "write," singular. Not a replacement for the storage being talked about here. It's long-term storage to replace magnetic storage and such.

And that's just hilarious.

No, it is beyond hilarious. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Scannerman · Mar 30, 2026

Definitely not what is being talked about here. Not what is being talked about much anywhere at all. In fact, I rather doubt it will ever be available to the domestic end user. Don't want to keep your data on the Cloud? Prepare to pay.

pseymour · Mar 30, 2026

Why would it be available to the domestic end user? I guess maybe some folks would want long-term storage like that, but there are other formats more accessible and affordable to the home user for long-term storage.

And sorry, I just don't share your outlook of doom and gloom, oh the capitalists are out to get us, fear the AI, all that jazz. We do agree that what you said is ridiculous, but probably not for the same reason.

WATCH OUT FOR RAM PRICES!

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'The current shortage could continue until 2030, so we expect more than a 20% shortage of the wafers'

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Forget the RAM crisis — storage prices are spiraling, and processors could be next, as gaming PC maker warns 'CPU shortage is getting more serious'

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