Memory Shortage of 2025

Memory Shortage of 2025/2026

It is no secret that we are facing a massive shortage and price hike of memory across the board, causing problems for any product that requires memory chips.  Unless you are an AI company with “bottomless” pits of cash.  Today, we are going to discuss the memory shortage and the damage that it is causing.

AI – The single biggest problem

AI has a lot of potential in a lot of cases, however so far I have seen nothing but job losses, price affects to residential neighborhoods due to the massive data centers, and product shortages, specifically the memory shortage we are suffering through right now due to AI companies buying as many memory chips as they can, wherever they can.  Since so many things rely on these memory chips, one can only hope that a lot of companies who don’t have AI products who are in big markets have stocked up to keep their production going with their products.

Cost – It is insane

The cost increase can be looked at in many ways, but two specific ways I would like to look at it are from a consumer standpoint and a business standpoint.  We are all aware that companies add on top of their cost to make a profit, however some of the prices I have seen are absolutely insane and most of them are big corporate chains such as Best Buy.  For regular gamers, small businesses, and consumers who aren’t rolling in the dough, breaking into the customer PC market seems next to impossible right now as some kits are going for as much as it cost for an entry level computer 10 years ago.  It is simply unrealistic for a consumer to spend that much on one component, especially one that this time last year was significantly cheaper.

On the business side of things, it is simple: companies are exploiting the shortage to make higher profits.  At the end of the day, that is all it is about for these big corporate giants.  While the hobby has been growing, more and more ways to nickel and dime them in situations like these have been ever present.  I fear that the damage that has already been done will stay this way, even if allocation of memory eases up (which spoiler alert, it is looking to be like this for the next year at least).

Where do we go from here?

The amount of uncertainty in the custom PC world right now is high as the shortage and price hikes are here for at least a year, according to analysts.  While we can’t say for how long, prices are sure to come down in the future as they have in the past.  I would like to  note that a lot of people are voting more so with their wallet as we are seeing in the games industry, and the custom PC community will do the same.  However, with AI companies buying all the chips it possibly might not make a difference.  Time will only tell.  As a systems integrator, AVADirect is very much affected by the shortages right now and we are doing everything we can to negate this issue for our customers.  However, like everyone else, we are at the mercy of the same companies.  If you are in the market for a new custom PC or custom gaming PC, please be sure to read the notices we have at checkout, or reach out to our sales team who can give you up to date information on allocation and pricing.