Why Phones and Laptops Are Getting More Expensive in 2026: The RAM Crisis Explained
If you’ve shopped for a new laptop or phone recently and felt like prices jumped for no clear reason, you’re not imagining it. A global memory chip shortage — some outlets have nicknamed it “RAMageddon” — is driving up the cost of the RAM and storage inside nearly every device sold in 2026. Here’s what’s actually happening and what it means for your next purchase.
What’s Causing the RAM Crisis
The short version: AI data centres are consuming the world’s memory chip supply. Only three companies — Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron — manufacture the vast majority of the DRAM (RAM) and NAND flash (storage) used globally, and all three have shifted significant production capacity toward high-margin memory built for AI servers. According to Tom’s Guide, demand for the AI boom has caused manufacturers to deprioritise the cheaper, older memory chips that go into everyday consumer laptops and phones in favour of the newest high-density memory that AI companies are willing to pay a premium for.
The result is a supply squeeze on the exact components that go into the device you’re shopping for, even though it has nothing directly to do with AI features in that device itself.
How Bad Is It, Really?
The numbers are significant. Research firm TrendForce measured conventional DRAM contract prices rising 90-95% quarter-over-quarter in the first quarter of 2026 alone, with a further 58-63% increase in the second quarter, while NAND flash storage climbed 70-75% over the same period. Analyst firm Gartner projects a roughly 130% memory cost surge by the end of 2026, translating to PC prices rising around 17% and smartphone prices rising around 13% compared to 2025.
To put that in real terms: HP’s own finance leadership has said memory and storage costs jumped from roughly 15-18% of a PC’s build cost to about 35% in 2026. That’s not a small manufacturing line-item shift — it’s a structural change in what it costs to build a laptop at all.
Why You Might Not Notice It as a Price Increase
Here’s the part that catches a lot of shoppers off guard: manufacturers don’t always raise the sticker price. Instead, many are quietly reducing what you get for the same price — a practice sometimes called “shrinkflation” applied to hardware. That can mean:
- A phone that would have shipped with 8GB of RAM last year, shipping with 6GB or even 4GB this year, at the same price point
- Smaller default storage tiers becoming the new baseline
- Camera or display components getting quietly downgraded to offset rising memory costs elsewhere in the bill of materials
If a new phone or laptop’s specs seem to have stalled or gone backward compared to what you’d expect for the price, the RAM crisis is very likely part of the reason.
Who’s Affected Most
Budget and entry-level devices are taking the biggest hit. Gartner’s analysis suggests basic smartphone buyers are exiting the market roughly five times faster than premium buyers in 2026, largely because entry-level devices have the least room to absorb rising component costs without becoming unattractively expensive. Gartner has gone as far as projecting that the sub-$500 PC segment could disappear entirely by 2028 if current trends continue.
Premium devices from companies like Apple are somewhat more insulated, thanks to higher margins and, in Apple’s case, more direct control over their supply chain — but “more insulated” doesn’t mean immune. Expect even flagship pricing to reflect some of this pressure over the coming year.
What This Means for Your Next Purchase
If you’re due for an upgrade soon, sooner is generally better than later. Every major analyst tracking this crisis—Gartner, IDC, and TrendForce among them—expects prices to keep climbing through the rest of 2026, with meaningful relief not expected until 2027 at the earliest as new manufacturing capacity comes online.
Check the actual specs, not just the price, before buying. Because manufacturers are quietly trimming RAM and storage to hold prices steady, two phones or laptops at the same price point this year may not be nearly as comparable as they would have been a year ago. Read the spec sheet carefully rather than assuming the price alone tells you what you’re getting.
Consider whether you actually need to upgrade right now. If your current device is still functional, keeping it longer is a reasonable response to this market — Gartner’s analysis explicitly expects buyers to hold onto devices longer as a direct response to rising prices, and that’s a sound instinct if your budget is tight.
Bottom Line
The RAM crisis isn’t a temporary blip — it’s a structural supply shift driven by how much memory the AI industry is willing to pay for, and it’s expected to keep pushing device prices upward through the rest of 2026. If you’ve been putting off a laptop or phone upgrade, this is a reasonable year to stop waiting for prices to come back down, since most analysts don’t expect meaningful relief until 2027 or later.
Want to know whether it makes more sense to buy now or hold off? We break down the specific timing math in our companion piece on navigating the 2026 memory shortage as a buyer.
