AI infrastructure demand is creating memory shortages that are driving component costs for PCs and smartphones up by up to 8 percent.

A global shortage of memory chips is expected to push up average selling prices of personal computers and smartphones in 2026, according to research firm IDC. The shortage is propelled by surging demand from artificial intelligence data centers, which has created an imbalance in the memory market. The memory market includes DRAM and NAND flash, both used in everyday devices — DRAM is fast-access memory that computers use to run programs and applications, while NAND flash is storage memory for saving photos, documents, and other files.

Major memory manufacturers, including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron — the world's three biggest memory makers — have shifted production capacity away from conventional DRAM and NAND used in smartphones and PCs toward memory used in AI data centers, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and high-capacity DDR5. IDC explained this dynamic: "Instead of expanding conventional DRAM and NAND used in smartphones, PCs, and other consumer electronics, major memory makers have shifted production toward memory used in AI data centers, such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and high-capacity DDR5. This has restricted the supply of general-purpose memory modules and driven up prices across the board."

The reallocation of manufacturing capacity has created what IDC described as "a zero-sum game: every wafer allocated to an HBM stack for an Nvidia GPU is a wafer denied to the LPDDR5X (DRAM) module of a mid-range smartphone or the SSD (NAND) of a consumer laptop." This shift has tightened the availability of DRAM and NAND for consumer devices, directly driving up component prices. For smartphones, memory often constitutes a significant portion of the bill of materials, especially in mid-range devices, potentially forcing manufacturers to increase prices, cut memory specifications, or both. IDC's downside scenarios suggest average smartphone selling prices could rise 3-5% in a moderate case or up to 6-8% in a "pessimistic scenario."

In the PC market, the memory shortage converges with the transition to AI-enhanced PC systems and the end of legacy software support cycles, specifically Windows 10. Major vendors have signaled broad price increases, and under IDC's scenarios, average selling prices for PCs could climb 4–8% in 2026. According to IDC, "The severity and duration of the shortage will be determined by how quickly production capacity can expand and how effectively demand rebalances across segments."