Storage shortage likely to last for years to come
It's not news: the prices for RAM and NAND memory are rising. SK Hynix is the first manufacturer to say how long you will have to dig deep into your pockets for memory. Spoiler: a long time.
In an internal meeting, semiconductor manufacturer SK Hynix has predicted how long the memory shortage will last: RAM will remain expensive up to and including 2028. This is reported by Techpowerup.
The exciting thing about this is that DRAM, such as DDR5 or DDR4, will be particularly affected. This is used in PCs and consoles. However, the most advanced memory types HBM and SOCAMM are not. This is used in AI products such as GPUs and servers. The manufacturer wants to increase production capacities here.
No way out of the shortage
This is another bitter pill for anyone who wants to upgrade their PC or build a new one. At the beginning of December, Crucial, an important manufacturer of RAM and SSDs, announced that it was turning its back on the consumer market. The fact that Samsung wants to shift its production capacities towards DRAM memory is likely to be a drop in the ocean. Samsung's decision is not based on solidarity, but on profit: Because DRAM memory is also likely to be eaten up by the AI industry - with a comparable margin to HBM memory.
Not only RAM affected
Speaking of the AI industry: its appetite is not limited to RAM. NAND memory and hard drives are also currently costing significantly more than a year ago. I reported on this back in late summer /page/ki-boom-will-ssds-and-hdds-the-new-graphics-cards-39618. Prices have risen continuously since then, as Heise writes. Compared to the summer, the cost of SSDs has risen by 40 per cent in some cases.
This is also the case in our shop. The popular Samsung 990 Pro with 2 terabytes of storage cost around 150 francs in October, now it's around 200. The price jump for hard drives is not quite as big. For example, the WD Red Plus with 8 terabytes of storage currently costs around 210 compared to 170 francs in October. Nevertheless, the difference is enormous and the hole in your wallet is big.
A analysis by market researcher Trendforce assumes that storage prices will continue to rise. An end to this development is not in sight for the time being. Let's hope that at least SSDs and hard drives will become cheaper again before 2028.
There is even a threat of a performance setback
In a further analysis, Trendforce already speaks of impending spec downgrades. The high prices of memory are also affecting finished products such as notebooks and smartphones. Manufacturers will therefore be forced to increase prices. As if that were not enough, they could also cut back on components and thus reduce the specifications. This would result in a drop in performance. Instead of 12 gigabytes of memory, smartphones could then only offer 8 gigabytes. Entry-level devices would even be conceivable with just 4 gigabytes. The same applies to all other devices that have built-in memory, such as notebooks or ready-made PCs.
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