A memory upgrade that used to cost about $150 now runs closer to $350 in the US, and the sticker shock is spreading across every major market. Retail DDR5 prices have roughly tripled to quadrupled since last fall, and in Germany a widely tracked index has climbed to 486, nearly five times the year-ago reading.
The increases hit the biggest kits hardest. In the US, 64GB, 48GB and 32GB DDR5 kits all posted double-digit gains, with availability thinning, according to Tom’s Hardware. In Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei market, DDR4 8Gb modules rose 12.8% week over week to $22, while DDR5 24Gb parts hit $48 and 16Gb parts $40. Japanese listings show a 64GB x 2 DDR5-6000 kit at ¥316,980.
Retailers and PC builders are paying for a supply shift that began in data centers. HBM production consumes an outsized share of DRAM wafer capacity, so suppliers have been redirecting output to AI memory and leaving less for commodity parts.
The squeeze is expected to persist. Contract quotes for server DRAM are heading up 13-18% in the third quarter, according to TrendForce. The firm does not see relief arriving before 2027. It expects quarterly increases to continue from the second half of this year as suppliers hold the line on undersupplied markets.
SK Hynix, Samsung and Micron are all expanding capacity and raising prices, and analysts expect the tightness to last well into next year.
