--- title: "The AI Memory Squeeze Reaches Your Next Laptop and Phone" description: "Soaring demand for AI memory chips has pushed prices to record highs and started flowing through to consumers: PC prices are up roughly 30% since late 2025, and Apple, Microsoft and others are raising device prices as the chips that power AI data centers crowd out supply for everyday gadgets." category: "Companies" category_url: https://boursel.com/category/companies author: "Marcus Feldman" published: 2026-06-26T12:30:00.000Z updated: 2026-06-26T12:30:00.000Z canonical: https://boursel.com/article/the-ai-memory-squeeze-reaches-your-next-laptop-and-phone tags: ["memory-chips", "dram", "hbm", "ai", "consumer-electronics"] --- # The AI Memory Squeeze Reaches Your Next Laptop and Phone Soaring demand for AI memory chips has pushed prices to record highs and started flowing through to consumers: PC prices are up roughly 30% since late 2025, and Apple, Microsoft and others are raising device prices as the chips that power AI data centers crowd out supply for everyday gadgets. The AI boom has been an abstract story for most consumers. It's about to show up on the price tag of their next laptop. ## The squeeze, in prices Memory chips — the DRAM and flash storage inside every device — have surged in cost, and device makers are passing it on. PC prices are up roughly **30%** since the fourth quarter of 2025, with another ~5% expected this quarter, ASUS told the Commercial Times, [as TrendForce reported](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/06/26/news-apple-price-hikes-erode-neos-cost-edge-as-xbox-cites-2-5x-memory-surge-for-new-increase/). Microsoft cited a "2.5x surge in storage and memory prices" when it raised Xbox prices $100–$150, and Apple has lifted MacBook and iPad prices — the MacBook Air with 512GB now starts at $1,299 (from $1,099) — with CEO Tim Cook saying the company "can no longer fully absorb the surge in component costs driven by the artificial intelligence boom." ## Why it's happening The cause is the **AI memory super-cycle** we've tracked across the chip sector. AI data centers devour **high-bandwidth memory (HBM)** — the specialized, expensive stacked DRAM bolted to AI accelerators — and standard server DRAM, soaking up manufacturing capacity that would otherwise make memory for consumer PCs and phones. HBM4 die prices have jumped 40–50% since early 2026, and the dominant supplier, SK Hynix, has even trimmed HBM4 shipments as it wrestles with yields. Less supply for gadgets, at exactly the moment AI demand is exploding, means higher prices. ## Who wins, who's squeezed The chipmakers are minting money. **Micron** reported quarterly revenue of about **$41.5 billion** — up roughly 74% sequentially — with record gross margins near 85% and HBM4 revenue topping $1 billion, [per TrendForce](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/06/25/news-micron-profit-surges-15-fold-as-margin-nears-85-hbm4-revenue-exceeds-1b/), and guided next-quarter revenue toward $50 billion. SK Hynix and Samsung's memory units are similarly booming. The squeezed party is the **device maker**: Dell faces server-price rises of 20–40% and notebook hikes; Lenovo executives called higher memory prices the "new normal" stretching toward 2030. Caught between a memory market they can't control and consumers with finite patience, OEMs must either raise prices or eat the margin. ## The outlook Relief is years away. SK Hynix and Micron both signal tightness persisting through 2027 and beyond, with major new capacity not arriving until around 2028; long-term supply deals are locking up future output before it reaches consumer channels. TrendForce doesn't expect a return to pre-surge pricing before the end of the decade, because AI infrastructure keeps absorbing new supply first. ## What it means For consumers, the practical takeaway is simple: laptops, phones and game consoles are likely to stay pricier, and the days of memory getting steadily cheaper each year are, for now, over. For investors, it's a tale of two ends of the same supply chain — record profits for memory makers, margin pressure for the companies that turn those chips into the devices we buy. The AI build-out's costs, long visible only in hyperscaler capex, are now reaching the checkout. This is reporting and analysis, not investment advice. ## Sources - [AI memory chip shortage drives up consumer electronics prices](https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/26/ai-memory-chip-shortage-consumer-electronics-prices.html) - [Apple price hikes, Xbox cites 2.5x memory surge](https://www.trendforce.com/news/2026/06/26/news-apple-price-hikes-erode-neos-cost-edge-as-xbox-cites-2-5x-memory-surge-for-new-increase/)