- HP has emphasized how expensive RAM has become
- On average, system RAM now accounts for 35% of the total cost of making a PC
- Previously, that figure was 15% to 18% of HP’s total spend for a PC, so memory costs have effectively doubled
HP has made it clear how expensive RAM has become, to the point where system memory now eats up twice the budget allocation it previously did with the cost of making a new PC.
The Register reports that HP shared this information in an earnings call for the first quarter of 2026. According to HP, the cost of system RAM in a PC in the previous quarter was between 15% to 18% of the total budget – whereas it now makes up 35% of the cost. This means that the price of memory has practically doubled.
On top of that, we’re told that the amount of said budget that the memory modules use is likely to increase as 2026 rolls forward.
HP interim CEO Bruce Broussard noted that the PC maker has long-term supply contracts in place for this year and has also “qualified new suppliers [and] built in strategic inventory positions for key platforms and cut the time to qualify new material in half to accelerate our product configuration changes.”
Analysis: DDR: twice the data speed — and twice as expensive for HP
On the face of it, this is a pretty startling increase in the percentage of the bill of materials (total cost of components) that RAM now uses. That actually represents more than a third of that bill, though that doesn’t really come as much of a surprise to those who’ve been following the price increases we’re seeing for consumer RAM kits, especially DDR5 models.
Still, it’s clear enough that even a company with the power of HP – it’s the second-largest PC maker in the world, behind only Lenovo – is struggling, despite what must be relatively large resources relative to its pool of existing (already purchased) RAM stock. (Speaking of Lenovo, that company is already warning of RAM-driven price increases for consumer PCs in March.)
The comment from HP’s interim CEO about finding new suppliers is particularly interesting since we’ve been hearing a lot lately about more affordable RAM from Chinese manufacturers. Is HP looking to Asian chips, such as memory modules made by CXMT, to fill the gaps in their storage supply lines? We can only speculate, but it’s an obvious conclusion that some people understandably jump to.
The interim CEO also made a comment about “configuring our products and shaping demand to align the supply we have with the needs of our customers,” which could be read as a hint to have more laptops with 8GB of RAM to curb price increases for more mainstream HP notebooks. It may be a necessary step, albeit an unfortunate compromise in terms of future proofing.
It’s painfully obvious that the RAM crisis means tough times for everyone right now, even the biggest drivers in the PC manufacturing world.
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