Memory Prices Keep Climbing Through Mid-2026 as AI Demand Offsets Cooling PC and Phone Markets
*TrendForce reports that DRAM and NAND prices will rise through the third quarter of 2026, though the rate of increase is slowing because PC and smartphone makers have reached affordability limits.*
TrendForce’s latest forecast shows the memory price surge that began with heavy AI spending has started to moderate. Demand from data-center operators still supports higher contract prices, but the broader market has hit resistance from consumer-device makers.
The firm states that AI-related orders continue to push both DRAM and NAND upward. At the same time, PC and smartphone manufacturers are unwilling or unable to absorb further increases, which trims the overall momentum of the price climb.
No other major shifts in supply or new capacity announcements appear in the report. The outlook therefore rests on the split between sustained AI purchases and constrained spending elsewhere.
Why it matters
Device makers facing higher component costs will either raise end prices or absorb thinner margins. Builders of AI servers can continue to pay more for memory, while buyers of ordinary laptops and phones see the effect only indirectly through slower price declines or modest increases. The divergence between these two segments is now the main variable shaping memory costs into 2026.
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