Here’s why PC, tablet and smartphone prices are going up

If you have been in the market to upgrade your tech but are balking because of skyrocketing prices, you’re not alone as the same scenario is happening not only in Malaysia but the world over. 

What is even more vexing is that when you finally save up enough to get the PC, tablet or smartphone you originally wanted, it’s not in stock or, more likely, prices have gone up yet again.

Rather than a spate of blatant opportunism and predatory pricing by vendors, the spike in prices and shortages are largely the aftermath of increased prices and supply constraints affecting memory. The billion-dollar question though is who’s buying up all that memory, why aren’t they making more and why things aren’t going to improve anytime soon.

Why PC, tablet and smartphone prices are going up and how did we get here in the first place?

Before the pandemic kicked in around late 2019, memory was generally one of the more predictable components in the technology supply chain with DRAM and NAND Flash produced in large volumes and used across a huge range of products from both the consumer and enterprise side of the fence that include everything from smartphones and tablets to PCs all the way up to servers and data centers.

Like an intricate ballroom dance, everyone in the supply chain knew the steps and the tune. Product manufacturers who made all this stuff – phones, tablets, PCs and the like could, with some degree of accuracy, be assured of a consistent supply and price as well as stable demand from consumers.

On the other side of the fence, stiff competition between memory suppliers from heavyweights like Samsung, Micron Technology and SK Hynix helped to keep prices under control, or at least within a region that won’t raise your eyebrows level with your hairline. Unfortunately, the pandemic threw a wrench in the works and upended the equation.

A combination of sweeping border closures across the world messed up logistics on both ends of the supply chain with finished products stuck in ports while their components may be stuck floating somewhere in a freighter in the South China Sea. This resulted in factory shutdowns, slow product arrivals and worse.

Add in an entire global population stuck in their homes and you had an unexpected, rapid surge in demand for PCs, laptops, monitors and other consumer electronics – if you’re going to binge watch Netflix you’re going to need a bigger screen and if you’re aiming to game, you’ll need better hardware.

The resulting supply-chain crisis resulted in shortages followed by overcorrection as demand cooled and manufacturers of both components and tech products were left with excess inventories that persisted though prices and supply stabilised somewhat over the next couple of years.

Then in late 2022 along came something else to upset the balance and it’s something straight out of left field – artificial intelligence.

The AI boom and how it’s changing the memory market

That AI you have helping you work on your assignment, parse through a ton of data in a spreadsheet or generate a cat video needs memory and lots of it. As AI infrastructure has rapidly expanded, large technology firms including OpenAI, Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft have driven enormous demand for AI data centres, which in turn has increased demand for high-performance memory and other semiconductor components. This has encouraged memory manufacturers to prioritise higher-value AI-related products and capacity, putting additional pressure on the supply available for consumer devices.

The result is intense demand for memory that outstrips supply. Consumer electronics manufacturers get the short end of the stick with shortages all around and increased prices for what memory is available. 

In a TrendForce report, contract prices for LPDDR5X jumped by 78–83% quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2026, while LPDDR4X prices rose by 70–75% or more during the same period. From making up roughly 10% of component costs in 2025 to roughly 34% in Q3 2026 and potentially reaching 40% in the first half of 2027 based on a TrendForce report, memory is rapidly becoming one of, if not the highest-cost component in a smartphone. 

The situation is just as grim for laptop and PC makers. According to TrendForce, under normal conditions, DRAM and SSD storage account for roughly 15% of an approximately US$900 laptop’s Bill of Materials (BOM). Recent events have caused this to exceed 30% in Q1 2026. 

If memory prices continue to rise, the cost pressure alone could push retail prices more than 30% higher, while rising CPU costs could push the combined share of memory and CPU from roughly 45% to around 58% of the BOM of that same US$900 laptop. Together, these cost pressures could potentially result in retail prices approaching 40% higher if vendors want to maintain their margins.

This has resulted in memory becoming one of, if not the, priciest components in manufacturing smartphones and other consumer tech. In a Counterpoint report, the research firm said that mobile DRAM prices are expected to rise by about 10% quarter-on-quarter in Q3 2026, while the surge in memory prices had already driven up the Bill of Materials cost of low-end smartphones by 70% year-on-year in Q2.

This leaves manufacturers and their customers in a lurch, with prices for mobile DRAM and the products that use it soaring as everyone competes for limited supply.

While manufacturers have attempted to absorb these costs, it cannot be done indefinitely, forcing brands to pass them on to consumers through increased product prices, something that is particularly evident in budget devices.

While a US$50 increase in a premium flagship phone or laptop that costs US$2,000 is manageable with some degree of wiggle room for absorbing costs, the same component price increase can completely wreck margins in a device like a budget phone that retails for US$100 or less.

On that note, a report in the South China Morning Post estimates that memory costs for sub-US$100 smartphones could increase by as much as 400% in Q3 2026 and if the problem persists, budget smartphones may become ‘impossible to manufacture’ profitably.

To address the problem of memory becoming one of, if not the, highest-priced components in a product, a TrendForce report states that smartphone, laptop and PC makers have gone for a workaround by readjusting memory configurations across product tiers with midrange devices often defaulting to 8GB RAM as the core specification, entry-level models at 4GB and flagship designs at 12GB RAM. 

Astute pundits will likely beget the question, ‘why not make more memory?’ Well, kemosabe, it’s complicated.

So why not make more memory?

Manufacturing memory is an extremely complex process that requires extensive infrastructure. As much as there is surging demand for memory, there currently aren’t enough production lines to make it and building additional capacity isn’t something that can be done overnight. While Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron Technology have pledged to boost output with billions of dollars of investment, it takes at least a year for a new production line to come online, experts say. 

Things are likely going to get worse. Another Reuters report in May states that memory chip prices had doubled in the first quarter of 2026 alone from the previous quarter and are forecasted to climb up to 63% in the current quarter driven by bullish demand from AI data centres. Large consumer tech brands Nintendo and Sony both highlighted the impact from surging memory prices to their business in the same Reuters report.

Consumers aren’t biting though and Omdia reported that global smartphone shipments fell 6% year-on-year in Q2 2026 while shipments of smartphones priced below US$400 fell by more than 22%. A Reuters report earlier this year shared that global demand for smartphones, personal computers and gaming consoles is expected to shrink as manufacturers raise prices to offset memory chip costs.

Further, Omdia describes the current increased costs in memory driving a structural repricing of the industry, changing how manufacturers compete on pricing, profitability and product positioning.

As it stands, the prevailing high PC, tablet and smartphone prices are still being heavily influenced by supply issues for the indefinite future.

Consumers who still need to purchase tech can alternatively acquire older devices, invest in proven brands that offer long service lives or explore the preloved market. Be that as it may, 2026 will be a year to remember.

[Source: TrendForce, Reuters, SCMP, Omdia]