International costs for shopper reminiscence and storage elements rose sharply within the second quarter of 2026, as ongoing provide shortages continued to hit key components utilized in smartphones, laptops, and different electronics.
In keeping with information from market analysis agency Sigmaintell, some DRAM costs surged by as a lot as 89% in contrast with the earlier quarter, whereas sure storage elements greater than doubled in worth.
The development follows already elevated prices in Q1 and is predicted to additional improve stress on shopper electronics pricing worldwide.
The common worth of a 16Gb (2GB) DRAM chip rose from $19.20 in Q1 to $28.50 in Q2, marking a rise of round 49%. A 16GB DDR4 module additionally noticed a pointy leap of 51%, climbing from $137 to $207.10.
Low-power reminiscence utilized in cellular units recorded even steeper good points. A 32Gb (4GB) LPDDR part rose by 75%, whereas a 96Gb LPDDR5X chip surged by 89%, reaching $145.90 the best improve amongst reported DRAM classes.
Storage options additionally noticed sturdy upward motion throughout the SSD and embedded reminiscence segments. A 512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD rose by 54% to $126.30, whereas 256GB UFS 3.1 storage greater than doubled, rising by 103% to $62.70.
Different elements, together with 16GB eMMC storage, climbed by 69%, whereas uMCP packages extensively utilized in smartphones and tablets surged by 107%, reaching $150.40.
Rising part prices have already begun affecting end-user pricing. Producers have elevated the price of laptops, smartphones, and gaming consoles, with some units seeing noticeable worth changes in latest months.
A 16GB DDR4 package that beforehand price round $60–$70 is now considerably larger, whereas SSD costs have additionally doubled in some circumstances, with 1TB PCIe Gen 4 drives now generally priced between $130 and $150.
Business analysts attribute the scarcity to a shift in manufacturing capability in direction of high-value segments equivalent to AI-focused high-bandwidth reminiscence (HBM), server DRAM, and enterprise storage options. This has lowered provide availability for mainstream shopper merchandise.
Whereas producers might finally improve the output of general-purpose reminiscence, analysts say any aid is unlikely within the quick time period.
Market forecasts recommend the provision scarcity might persist till 2028, which means costs are anticipated to stay excessive or proceed rising. Even in a secure state of affairs, a major worth drop seems unlikely within the close to future.
Consequently, continued stress on reminiscence and storage prices is predicted to maintain total costs of shopper electronics elevated within the coming years.
