A TrendForce report ensures that the Price of DDR5 will rise 45% by the end of 2026. This price increase will make the cost of DRAM, and the SSD unit, represent 23% of the total manufacturing cost of a high-end laptop, 21% of the total cost of a mid-range device and 20% of the total cost of a low-end laptop.
Low-end laptops will be configured in 2026 with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB of storage capacity, mid-range models will have 16GB RAM and 512GB of storage, and the high-end ones will have 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of storage capacity. It seems that configurations with 64 GB of RAM and more than 1 TB will almost completely disappear.
The increase in the cost of RAM and SSD units will increase the total material cost of laptops by 10% to 12%, which means that the price of laptops will rise significantly in 2026. We can also expect practically all technology products that use RAM and storage based on NAND Flash memory to rise in price.
Large manufacturers are already beginning to take measures to address this increase in production costs. Special mention deserves Maingear, which has made the decision to Allow customers to provide their own RAM modules when they are going to Buy one of their PCs. This can be useful if we already have RAM compatible with the new PC and we want to avoid having to bear the high costs of buying a new memory kit.
There is no doubt that 2026 is going to be a complicated year due to the RAM crisis, a scenario in which it also plays against us the passivity of the large memory manufacturerswho have decided not to take action on the matter to increase production and counteract the current shortage. Ultimately it is logical, because they are interested in continuing to sell at the current rate but with prices up to 500% higher than just two months ago.
If you need a laptop or a PC, take advantage, because right now prices are still at reasonable levelsand it is possible to find quite capable computers with 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD for less than 850 euros. This will change from the first quarter of 2026, according to the current outlook.
