Short answer: RAM and SSD prices have risen dramatically because memory makers have redirected enormous volumes of production towards AI data centres. DRAM prices climbed roughly 172% during 2025, NAND flash (the chips inside every SSD) is up around 246% since the start of 2025, and consumer supply has been squeezed to the point where shops are rationing stock. For most people in West Bromwich and the wider West Midlands, the sensible move in 2026 is to repair or upgrade the computer you already own rather than replace it.
The numbers, at a glance
- DRAM (system memory): around a 172% increase across 2025, with contract prices forecast to rise a further 13-18% quarter-on-quarter through Q3 2026.
- NAND flash (SSD storage): up roughly 246% since Q1 2025, with about 70% of that jump landing in a single two-month window.
- Why it matters for SSDs: NAND makes up roughly 90% of an SSD’s bill of materials, so when NAND moves, drive prices move with it almost immediately.
- Whole-PC knock-on: memory went from around 15-18% of a typical PC’s build cost to about 35% in a single quarter, and the big manufacturers pushed through 15-20% price rises on finished machines.
- Market effect: analysts now expect the global PC market to shrink by around 10% in 2026, with sub-£500 laptops becoming close to commercially unviable.
Why are RAM and SSD prices so high in 2026?
This is not the usual seasonal wobble. It is a structural shift in where memory chips go.
Every AI model you have heard of runs on servers stuffed with high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and enterprise-grade SSDs. That memory is made on the same wafer lines, in the same handful of fabs, as the DDR5 stick in your desktop and the NVMe drive in your laptop. Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron between them supply the overwhelming majority of the world’s DRAM, and every wafer they point at an AI customer is a wafer that does not become a consumer memory module.
The scale is hard to overstate. OpenAI’s Stargate data-centre programme alone has been reported as seeking the equivalent of roughly 40% of global DRAM output – somewhere in the region of 900,000 wafers a month. Samsung set aside 60,000 wafers a month purely for HBM4 production. AI buyers sign long, high-volume contracts at high margins and pay up front. A repair shop in Sandwell buying a tray of 16GB SO-DIMMs simply cannot compete with that, and neither can the distributors we buy from.
The result is the classic squeeze: allocation goes to the biggest, most profitable customer, and everyone else queues. Kingston’s own representatives have described the current surge as unprecedented in nearly three decades in the industry, and have been openly telling customers not to wait if they are planning an upgrade, because the same part will very likely cost more in a month’s time. SK Hynix’s leadership has suggested the imbalance could persist well past 2030.
What this actually looks like on the counter
Prices move week to week at the moment, so we will not quote figures that will be wrong by the time you read this. What we can tell you is the shape of it:
- Mainstream 1TB NVMe drives that were an easy, cheap upgrade in early 2025 now commonly cost two to three times what they did.
- DDR4 has been hit as hard as DDR5, and in some cases harder – production lines for older memory are being wound down to free capacity, so parts for a five or six year old laptop can be scarcer than parts for a new one.
- Stock is lumpy. A part is in, then it is gone for three weeks, then it is back at a different price.
- Pre-built PCs and laptops have absorbed the increase too, which removes the old fallback of “the new one is barely more than the repair”.
That last point is the important one, and it flips the usual advice on its head.
Repair and upgrade beats replace – here is the maths
For years the honest answer to “is it worth fixing?” was often “not really, a new one is cheap”. In 2026 that calculation has changed, because the new machine contains the same expensive memory and storage as the upgrade you were considering – plus a new screen, chassis, battery, keyboard, licence and retail margin on top.
Put simply: if the memory and the drive are the expensive bits, buying a whole computer to get them is the least efficient way to spend your money. A machine from 2018 or 2019 with a decent processor, a fresh SSD, a clean Windows install and a battery is genuinely usable for everyday work, and you are only paying the shortage premium on one or two components rather than all of them.
There is a second, less obvious saving too. The repairs that have not gone up in price are the labour-led ones: virus and malware removal, thermal paste and fan servicing, screen and hinge replacement, battery swaps, power jack repairs, operating system reinstalls and general tune-ups. If your machine feels slow, there is a fair chance the cause is software, heat or a dying drive rather than a shortage of RAM at all. Our guide to why your laptop is so slow walks through the eight most common causes, and most of them cost nothing in parts.
What to do right now – a practical checklist
- Find out what you already have. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc, open Task Manager, click Performance. It will tell you how much RAM is fitted, how many slots are used, and what type it is. Many laptops have a second empty slot, which means a single stick doubles your memory rather than replacing it.
- Do not panic-buy the wrong part. The wrong speed, wrong voltage or wrong form factor is money burned in a market where returns are slow and restocking is unpredictable. Check before you buy, or ask us to check for you.
- If you genuinely need the upgrade, do it sooner rather than later. This is the one piece of “buy now” advice we would normally never give, but the industry consensus is that consumer memory pricing is not coming back down quickly.
- Back up before anything else. Drives are expensive, but data is priceless and irreplaceable. If your drive is showing symptoms, stop using it – read what to do the moment you lose data before you do anything else.
- Consider software before hardware. A clean install, a tidy startup list, or even a lightweight Linux distribution can transform an old machine for free. Our walkthrough on running Linux Mint from a USB stick is a good, zero-cost place to start.
- Reuse what you can. Pulling a healthy SSD or matched RAM out of a dead laptop and moving it into a working one is standard practice for us, and it is worth real money in this market.
Which upgrades still make sense?
| If your machine… | Best value move in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Still has a mechanical hard drive | Fit an SSD. Even at inflated prices this is still the single biggest speed improvement per pound – see our SSD vs HDD upgrade guide. |
| Has 4GB of RAM | Add a stick to reach 8GB or 16GB. Below 8GB, Windows 11 struggles no matter what else you do. |
| Already has an SSD and 8GB or more | Do not buy memory. Service it: clean the fans, replace the thermal paste, refresh the OS, check the battery. |
| Is running hot, loud or shutting down | A service, not a shopping trip. Heat throttling looks exactly like “my PC is old”. |
| Has a failing drive | Back up immediately, then replace. Check the warning signs your PC needs servicing if you are unsure. |
| Is a gaming or workstation build you were about to start | Consider delaying, or reusing memory and storage from an existing machine – see custom build vs pre-built. |
What it means for West Midlands businesses
If you run a small business in West Bromwich, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley or Birmingham, the shortage changes your refresh planning. A blanket “replace every machine after four years” policy is now an expensive habit. Selective upgrades – SSDs, memory, batteries, a proper service – keep a fleet running well for another two or three years at a fraction of the cost, and they avoid the migration downtime that comes with new hardware.
The other thing worth doing now is a proper inventory: which machines have spare RAM slots, which have upgradeable storage, and which are soldered and therefore effectively fixed. That one spreadsheet will save you money for the next two years. We cover the wider case for keeping this local in our piece on why West Midlands businesses need a local IT support partner.
Frequently asked questions
Why are RAM prices going up in 2026?
Memory manufacturers have diverted a very large share of their wafer capacity to high-bandwidth memory and server DRAM for AI data centres, which are far more profitable than consumer modules. That leaves less supply for desktop and laptop memory, so prices rise and availability falls.
When will RAM and SSD prices come back down?
Nobody can say for certain. Price rises appear to be decelerating as consumers hit an affordability ceiling, but forecasts still show increases through late 2026, and new fab capacity takes years to come online. Some industry figures have suggested the imbalance could last towards 2030. Planning on the basis of a quick return to 2024 prices would be optimistic.
Should I upgrade my RAM now or wait?
If you need the upgrade to make the machine usable, do it now – the consistent industry message is that prices are still climbing. If the machine is working acceptably, wait and spend the money on a service or an SSD instead.
Is it cheaper to repair or replace a laptop in 2026?
In most cases, repair. New machines contain the same expensive memory and storage, and manufacturers have already passed 15-20% cost increases on to buyers. Unless the motherboard or screen is beyond economic repair, upgrading an existing machine is usually the better value. Our UK laptop repair cost guide gives realistic figures.
Are second-hand and refurbished memory and SSDs safe to buy?
Refurbished parts from a reputable supplier with a warranty can be good value right now, and reusing memory from a dead machine is perfectly sound. Be far more careful with second-hand SSDs from marketplaces – drives have a finite write life, and counterfeit or relabelled drives have become more common as prices have risen. Always check drive health before trusting data to it.
Does this affect phones and consoles too?
Yes. Phones, tablets, games consoles, TVs and cameras all use the same memory and flash supply chain, and analysts expect smartphone shipments to fall by 8-9% in 2026 for the same reason.
Can I still get memory for an older laptop?
Usually, but availability is patchy and DDR3 and DDR4 modules are becoming harder to source as production lines shift to newer types. If you know you will need a specific older module, it is worth sourcing it sooner rather than later.
Talk to us before you spend
Mojoo Limited is a local PC and laptop repair, data recovery and IT support business based in West Bromwich, serving Sandwell and the wider West Midlands. In a market like this one, the most useful thing we do is tell people honestly when they do not need to spend money on parts.
Bring your machine in, or get in touch, and we will tell you what it has, what it can take, what it actually needs, and what it will cost – before you buy anything.
Sources
- Tom’s Hardware – Kingston warns NAND costs up 246%
- Tom’s Hardware – Memory price surge begins to cool, Q3 2026 outlook
- CNBC – AI memory is sold out, causing an unprecedented surge in prices
- IEEE Spectrum – AI boom fuels DRAM shortage and price surge
