- High-capacity DDR5 DRAM prices rise sharply from late 2025 to early 2026
- TrendForce forecasts expect price growth to continue despite apparent stabilization in retail
- Server-focused modules absorbed most of the chip’s output, tightening the computer’s supplies
Recent pricing trend of PCPartPicker It suggests that memory prices may stabilize after months of volatility, especially for high-capacity clusters.
This apparent calm contrasts sharply with the detached calm TrendForce forecasts Which suggests that PC DRAM contract prices could rise significantly in early 2026.
These conflicting signals reflect a market where short-term TMAs and longer-term TMAs are moving on different paths.
Supply adjustments reshape availability
The gap between observed prices and forward-looking contracts has widened, creating uncertainty rather than reassurance when tracking buyers. DDR5 DRAM costs.
Memory suppliers have made clear adjustments to how they allocate production capacity across product categories.
Server-focused modules have increasingly absorbed available chip output, leaving laptops and related products exposed to more stringent supply conditions.
Suppliers have coupled this shift with selective customization practices that favor large OEMs while reducing quantities available to independent module makers.
This supply system has created room for upward contract revisions as suppliers narrow historical price gaps between computer and server memory.
TrendForce data tracking average selling prices per gigabit shows limited movement throughout most of 2025.
From the first quarter through the third quarter of the year, PC and server memory lines remained largely flat, indicating stable demand and supply control.
This pattern changes suddenly during the last quarter of the year, when prices of both sectors begin to rise almost simultaneously.
Server-grade DDR5 RDIMM prices are rising more steeply, while PC-focused SODIMM prices are following a more moderate upward slope, confirming that the shift has been market-wide rather than isolated.
The largest movement occurs between late 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, when contract prices rise rapidly.
Trendforce Expectations indicate that increases will continue during the remainder of 2026, albeit at a slower pace after the initial jump.
Most importantly, the forecast shows no reversal or correction once prices reach higher levels.
Instead, both computer and server RAM appear to have settled into a sustained upper range, with server memory maintaining a steady premium per gigabyte.
Demand through large-scale AI deployments is at the heart of this volatile pricing situation.
Data center operators continue to expand memory-intensive systems to support training and inference workloads, increasing the consumption of high-capacity DDR5 modules.
This continued drawdown of AI infrastructure has strengthened suppliers’ preference for server memory and data center, indirectly tightening the availability of PC-focused products.
Many observers have described the recent slowdown in price increases as a stabilization, although fundamental data do not indicate improved affordability.
It seems that prices do not stabilize until they reach levels that limit purchasing activity.
This pattern suggests that stability may reflect resistance from buyers rather than healthy supply conditions.
If demand remains constrained while suppliers maintain current allocation strategies, high prices may persist longer than many market participants expect.
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