- DDR5 RAM prices appear to be falling in Europe
- Price tags have fallen by around 10% to 15%, although the evidence is a limited snapshot of the market
- On the downside, Chinese RAM – which some hoped would be an affordable alternative – doesn’t look too good
There is a hopeful sign that RAM prices may finally be coming down – although there is also some more negative news that has crept in to balance it out a bit.
First of all, the good news, as Tom’s Hardware reports, is that prices for DDR5 RAM appear to be easing in Europe.
The tech site noticed a claim on Reddit showing a graph of the price of an ‘average’ 32GB kit of DDR5 memory in the EU – which all sounds very vague, but points to a drop of around 10% (roughly) in price since the start of February.
Apparently this graph is from price comparison data compiled by Tweakers.net, a Dutch technology website, and there are anecdotal observations in the Reddit thread that this is what is happening in Europe.
Tom’s also did its own quick check of five popular (big brand) DDR5 memory kits at Amazon Germany (using CamelCamelCamel price tracking), and found that a few products had actually dropped quite significantly – by around 12% to 15% – since early February.
So there seems to be an easing of prices at some major retailers in Europe, which is good to see. Tom has also looked at the US market and found some evidence of much smaller price declines, but not something you’ve read much into (yet).
While that’s somewhat of a welcome relief, Wccftech also saw a more pessimistic sign, as flagged by Chinese tech site IT Home.
As you may be aware, there is some hope that more affordable RAM from Chinese manufacturers could step in as a relatively wallet-friendly option for Western buyers if imported – but this is unlikely to happen, we’re told.
In fact, KingBank, one of the major RAM manufacturers using memory chips from CXMT – which was recently highlighted as a potential cost-friendly savior of the over-inflated RAM market in the West – has raised its prices to levels similar to what we’ve seen in Europe and the US.
Wccftech notes that a KingBank 32GB DDR5 kit on JD.com is now running the equivalent of over $500, which means it’s pretty much the same price as the big brands in the US. You may still be able to score a decent price on DDR4 memory, perhaps in the short term – albeit with all the risks that buying from AliExpress entails.
Analysis: peak price reached?
While the Chinese RAM news is far from good, I’ll honestly take any positivity and the glimpse of memory prices in Europe now falling is very welcome.
Okay, so this is probably more about prices reaching such a high point that buyers are increasingly holding off on buying – in other words, a reflection of a wobble in demand and a reluctance to get caught up in panic buying, rather than a strengthening of available supply easing RAM prices in Europe.
But the net effect is still that prices are falling, rather than going inexorably upward at a ridiculous pace, and I’ll take any comfort I can get here. Of course, we need to keep an eye on prices into March to see if this downward trend can continue – albeit with a milder decline perhaps, but any further declines would still be a positive sign that the market may be starting to calm down (finally).
I can’t say I believe it will happen with any conviction, mind you – but you never know, especially if buyers become more stubborn about trying to wait this out. The problem with that tactic, of course, is that the RAM crisis isn’t expected to go away anytime soon, and the likelihood is that it will continue into and through 2027, if the sentiment from various analyst firms is on the money.
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