More from RAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortage
With the next batch of pre-orders, the Thor Max model with 1TB of storage is getting a $100 price hike to $549, according to a Discord announcement.
AYN is also switching from UFS 4.0 storage to the slower UFS 3.1 storage starting with the next pre-orders of the Thor and the AYN Odin 3 because “UFS 4.0 is no longer available at a sustainable level.”
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IDC, Omdia, and Gartner agree: the PC market will shrink because of RAMaggedon. Respectively, they’re forecasting 11 percent, 12 percent, and 10 percent declines in 2026, far bigger than previously predicted.
“The sub-$500 entry-level PC segment will disappear by 2028,” Gartner said in late February. Phones will drop similarly. And these forecasts don’t include the impacts of Trump’s war on Iran.
CEO Bruce Broussard said during its Q1 2026 earnings call that RAM now makes up 35 percent of its cost of materials. That’s up from 15-18 percent just three months earlier. It’s not announcing price hikes yet, but we’d be surprised if they weren’t coming. RAMageddon is nigh.
[The Register]
Prices could increase (or profits thinned) once Apple’s current stock of components like DRAM, NAND, and advanced chips runs out, according to The Wall Street Journal:
Artificial-intelligence companies are writing huge checks for chips, memory, specialized glass fiber and more, and they have begun to outduel Apple in the race to secure components. Suppliers accustomed to catering to Apple’s every whim are gaining the leverage to demand that the iPhone maker pay more.
That’s according to Nothing CEO Carl Pei, who, in a big post on X, also said that:
Memory is fast becoming one of the most expensive smartphone components and potentially the single largest cost driver in the bill of materials by year-end, with estimates suggesting that memory modules which cost less than $20 a year ago could exceed $100 by year-end for top-tier models.