An insatiable demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centres – with global investment set to hit $3 trillion over the next five years – is starving the consumer market of memory chips, driving RAM costs up by as much as 250%.
Industry experts warn this sustained pressure on component pricing will continue through 2026 and into 2027, with no clear end in sight, and will likely spill over into gaming consoles, smartphones and wearables.
Investment in AI-focused data centres is expected to reach at least $3 trillion globally over the next five years, Moody’s 2026 Data Centre Outlook Report says. The ratings agency explains that this level of investment is required to keep pace with AI capacity growth driven by hyperscaler investment.
Moody’s also notes that spending by six US hyperscalers – Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, Oracle, Meta and CoreWeave – hit nearly $400 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow by another $200 billion in the next two years.
AI to blame
T4i director Mark Walker, who was previously with research company IDC, notes PC component pricing has been surging at the start of this year, driven primarily by a global AI-driven memory shortage.
“The cause is massive, unprecedented demand for AI infrastructure and supply-side constraints. Data centre giants are buying up supply, forcing manufacturers to prioritise high-margin, high-bandwidth memory over consumer DDR4/DDR5 RAM and NAND flash,” says Walker.
David Buck, GM of InnoVent SA, concurs, noting that component supply is tightening as manufacturers shift their focus toward higher‑margin, AI-capable devices.
Mattheus de Klerk, store manager for @iT computer store at the Stoneridge Centre, says all tech components have recently seen various price increases, with RAM showing the sharpest price spikes, followed closely by SSDs and Non-Volatile Memory Express storage units.
“Pretty much every tech item will be going up in price due to the RAM shortage; the next shipment of laptops will be at a higher price point,” De Klerk says.
RAM has, in the past few months, increased in price by between 150% and 250% on various modules, for example, says De Klerk.
“We’ve just seen a DDR5 48GB chip go from costing around R2 899 to rapidly jump to R5 499, then to R8 999, and today it’s retailing for around R10 399. That’s an increase of over 250% in a very short period,” he says.
De Klerk notes: “There’s no clear finish line in sight. From late last year through to early 2026, we have already seen multiple price increases. In some cases, a single RAM upgrade can now cost as much as an entry-level gaming PC, or even a PlayStation 5.”
Endless ripples
Business leadership consultant Guy Whitcroft, who previously led channel companies such as Westcon-Comstor and Tarsus, says: “The rapid growth in the adoption of AI and increase in data centres to cater for this is what’s fuelling the price increases in both storage and memory.”
Whitcroft notes that forecasts indicate this trend will continue throughout this year and well into 2027, impacting PCs, smartphones and other consumer products.
The knock-on effect of the increase in prices is set to be felt in every device that uses memory, adds De Klerk.
“We’re already seeing delays and pricing pressure on graphics cards. It’s reasonable to expect similar issues in the console gaming space, including potential delays for new models. We also haven’t yet fully seen the impact on smartphones, wearables, or even vehicles. This shortage will ripple across many industries,” says De Klerk.
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