AI Is Rewriting the Rules of RAM. Here’s Why Cheap Memory May Not Return

If you have been waiting for RAM prices to fall back to their 2025 levels, Lenovo believes that moment may never come. During the International Supercomputing Conference 2026, the company presented what it called a "five step survival guide" for the current memory market. The message was clear. AI demand has permanently changed the economics of DRAM and NAND production.

According to reports from the event, Lenovo expects new manufacturing capacity arriving around 2028 to offer only limited relief. AI infrastructure is expanding so quickly that it will absorb most of the additional supply. As a result, memory prices are likely to remain much higher than many buyers expected.

The company also noted that memory capacity has become one of the most important factors when designing modern servers. Future dual processor systems could require around 1 TB of installed memory simply to take full advantage of their available bandwidth. That makes server upgrades far more expensive than in previous years.

Why Prices Could Keep Rising

Lenovo is not the only company expecting a long period of tight supply. Micron recently told investors that shortages may continue until at least 2027, while SK Hynix believes pressure could remain until 2030 as AI data centres consume more production capacity.

Manufacturers are also shifting resources toward high margin High Bandwidth Memory instead of standard DDR5 and LPDDR5 products. That leaves fewer conventional memory chips available and pushes prices even higher.

Jefferies Equity Research expects DRAM prices to rise by 40 to 50 percent during the third quarter of this year, followed by another increase of 30 to 40 percent in the fourth quarter. Analysts also expect further growth throughout 2027 before the market begins to stabilise in 2028.

Important to Know

If Lenovo and other industry leaders are correct, higher memory costs could become the new normal. That will affect much more than enterprise servers. Over time, consumers may also see more expensive laptops, desktops, gaming PCs, and AI powered devices.

In our view, this is another reminder that AI is reshaping the technology market faster than many expected. If you plan to upgrade your hardware within the next year, delaying your purchase may not save you money.

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