If you have priced up a memory or SSD upgrade this year, you will have noticed that it costs a lot more than it did in 2025. This isn’t just one shop putting prices up: memory and storage chips have been in short supply worldwide all year. Here is what is going on, in plain English, and what it means if you need a repair or an upgrade.
The short answer: AI servers are buying up the memory
The same few factories make the memory (DRAM) in your laptop and the flash chips (NAND) in your SSD. In 2026 those makers have been moving more of their production towards memory for AI data centres, because cloud companies are buying in huge volumes and paying more. That leaves less for PCs, laptops and phones, so prices for everyday parts go up.
Market research firm TrendForce tracks the contract prices that big manufacturers such as laptop makers pay for these chips. Its figures show how sharp the rise has been:
- January to March 2026: conventional DRAM up 90–95% in one quarter, PC memory more than doubling, and NAND flash up 55–60%.
- July to September 2026: rises slowed, with DRAM forecast up 13–18% and NAND up 10–15% on the previous quarter.
- October to December 2026: TrendForce expects DRAM to rise another 10–15% and NAND 15–20%, still driven mainly by AI server demand.
These are percentage rises on top of rises, so even a “slower” quarter still pushes prices higher than before.
Why prices go up and down
Memory has always moved in cycles. When factories make more than the market needs, prices fall, and when demand outstrips supply they climb. What makes 2026 different is that one type of buyer, AI data centres, is absorbing so much of the supply. TrendForce also reports that some makers have moved production lines from flash to DRAM, which limits how quickly SSD supply can grow.
There are some signs of the pressure easing on the consumer side. TrendForce says laptop makers are holding a lot of stock and fitting smaller SSDs in mainstream models, and that SSD suppliers have become more flexible on price. It describes the pace of increases as moderating, but it is not forecasting falls yet.
One thing to bear in mind: contract prices are what manufacturers pay. The price you see in a shop also depends on stock levels, exchange rates and when that stock was bought, so retail prices can lag behind or jump ahead of the figures above.
What this means for you
- Repairs often make more sense than replacing. A new laptop now carries those higher memory and storage costs too, so fixing the machine you have is usually better value.
- Quotes can change. Part prices are moving quickly, so a price from a few months ago may not still apply. We always give you a fixed quote before any work starts.
- Back up your data. With SSDs costing more, people are keeping older drives in service for longer. If a drive starts acting up, stop using it and get it checked before data is lost. Our data recovery service starts with a free evaluation.
Thinking about a memory or SSD upgrade, or not sure whether your laptop is worth fixing? Call us or bring it in to our Central London repair centre for a free evaluation.
Sources
- TrendForce, 2 February 2026: Memory price outlook for 1Q26 sharply upgraded
- TrendForce, 3 July 2026: AI server demand continues to support memory prices in 3Q26
- TrendForce, 30 September 2026: AI server demand sustains memory contract price increases in 4Q26