If you thought PC component prices were bad this year, then 2027 might be even worse for your wallet. According to a new report, three of the biggest manufacturers of PC memory–Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron–are already sold out of the crucial components, as AI companies continue to consume all of the available stock.
DigiTimes (via Tweaktown) says that all DRAM and HBM production for next year has sold out, and the big three have no plans to manufacture additional memory. What’s happened here is that demand has exceeded supply, and while the companies continue to cater to corporations that are scaling up their data centers, there’s a limit on how much they can produce in any given year. Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron also have to honor previous commitments, as companies typically sign deals months in advance to secure enough hardware for their respective production pipelines.
What does that mean for the average consumer? Expect the component supply for PC, laptops, and other smart devices to shrink even more in 2027, and as a result, prices to increase further. Microsoft had already warned of this a few months back when it announced new Xbox price hikes, saying that even more price increases could be on the cards. “Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x, and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027,” the company said in a statement in June.
Technology has become increasingly expensive over the last few years, with consoles being hit particularly hard. Xbox Series X|S and PS5 consoles are now more expensive in 2026 than they were when they launched in 2020–console prices typically go down over time–and the Nintendo Switch 2 is also going to cost $50 more starting in September. On top of that, portable gaming PCs have also drastically increased in price, painting a worrying picture for how much the barrier to entry will be for the next generation of gaming.
