- High-capacity DDR5 DRAM prices rose sharply from late 2025 to early 2026
- TrendForce forecasts predict continued price growth despite apparent stabilization in retail trade
- Server-focused modules have absorbed most wafer output, tightening PC supply
A recent pricing trend from PCPartPicker suggests that memory prices may settle after months of volatility, especially for higher capacity kits.
This apparent calm is in stark contrast to separate TrendForce forecasts, which indicate that contract prices for PC DRAM could rise significantly in early 2026.
These conflicting signals reflect a market where short-term retail averages and long-term delivery contracts are moving in different directions.
Supply adjustments reshape availability
The gap between observed prices and forward contracts has widened, creating uncertainty rather than reassurance for buyers tracking DDR5 DRAM costs.
Memory vendors have made clear adjustments to how they allocate manufacturing capacity across product categories.
Server-focused modules have increasingly absorbed available wafer output, leaving laptops and related products exposed to tighter supply conditions.
Suppliers have paired this shift with selective allocation practices that favor large OEMs while reducing the volumes available to independent module manufacturers.
This supply discipline has created room for upward contract revisions as suppliers narrow historical price differentials between PC and server memory.
TrendForce data tracking of average sales prices per gigabit shows limited movement through most of 2025.
From the first quarter to the third quarter of the year, both PC and server memory lines remain largely flat, indicating controlled supply and steady demand.
That pattern changes abruptly in the last quarter of the year, when prices for both segments begin to rise almost simultaneously.
Server-class DDR5 RDIMM prices rise more sharply, while PC-focused SODIMM prices follow a milder upward slope, confirming that the shift was market-wide rather than isolated.
The biggest movement occurs between the end of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, when contract prices rise rapidly.
TrendForce projections show continued increases through the remainder of 2026, albeit at a slower pace after the initial jump.
It is important that the forecast does not show any reversal or correction once prices reach higher levels.
Instead, both PC and server DRAM appear to settle into a persistently higher range, with server memory maintaining a consistent premium per memory. gigabit.
Demand from large-scale AI deployments is at the center of this volatile price situation.
Data center operators continue to expand memory-dense systems to support training and inference workloads, increasing consumption of high-capacity DDR5 modules.
This continued attraction from AI infrastructure has strengthened vendor preference for server and data center memory, indirectly increasing availability for PC-focused products.
Many observers have described the recent slowdown in price increases as stabilization, although the underlying data does not indicate improved affordability.
Prices appear to level off only when they have reached levels that limit buying activity.
This pattern suggests that stability may reflect resistance from buyers rather than healthier supply conditions.
If demand remains limited while suppliers maintain current allocation strategies, elevated prices may continue longer than many market participants expect.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds. Be sure to click the Follow button!
And of course you can too follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, video unboxings, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp also.
