TECH NEWS – The situation is so dire that many of the expected new products may arrive much later than planned.
Despite having the necessary capital, PC manufacturers are struggling to secure adequate memory supplies, which limits their ability to meet consumer demand. According to the latest news, the PC industry is in desperate shape, with DRAM supply chains so limited that even major players like Asus, HP, and Dell are having trouble obtaining the necessary quantities. These companies are now turning directly to suppliers, such as Samsung and SK Hynix, in hopes of securing long-term DRAM agreements. However, their efforts are hindered by significant constraints, as supply cannot keep pace with demand.
According to Chosun Biz in Korea, the price of DDR5 memory is expected to rise by as much as 45% next year, following a significant price increase that has already disrupted the PC industry. Manufacturers have limited options to overcome the shortage and currently have three choices. The first is to raise the price of consumer goods. However, this would lead to a decline in consumer interest and force companies to implement large price increases to purchase DRAM capacity at current contract prices, which is not beneficial to manufacturers.
The second option is to offer modified configurations of their products. Companies want to maintain 8 GB of memory as the standard for mid-range laptops, despite the software sector’s recommendation of 16 GB (due to Windows 11 Copilot). Thus, manufacturers hope to spread the use of DRAM across more products, which would temporarily solve the memory shortage. The third option is to delay product launches, as seen with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 Super product family and AMD’s RDNA 5 graphics cards.
Major GPU manufacturers are planning to bring their deadlines forward, and Intel and AMD intend to release processors based on secured DRAM allocations. It is reasonable to assume that the PC supply chain may experience a shortage of next-generation products, meaning existing product families may remain on the market longer than expected.
