High RAM prices are making people less willing to build new PCs or upgrade old ones.
The sharp increase in RAM prices has begun to affect the entire PC market — and has hit motherboard sales the hardest. According to Gaz Log, citing Board Channels, major manufacturers such as MSI, ASUS, and Gigabyte are reporting a 40-50% drop in sales in October-November compared to the same period last year.
Usually, demand increases during this time due to seasonal sales, but the increase in the cost of DDR5 has led to the opposite effect. Memory modules have risen in price by two to four times, which has sharply cooled users' interest in builds on modern platforms.
The drop in motherboard sales is dragging down other market segments as well. Experts note that demand for processors and cooling systems will inevitably decrease following them.
Vendors are preparing for one of the most difficult quarters in recent years and are considering promotions, "motherboard + DDR5" kits, and temporary discounts. However, analysts doubt that this will help in the long term — without stabilizing memory prices, the market is unlikely to return to its previous volumes.
Some analysts believe that the memory shortage may persist until the middle of next year. If the situation does not begin to stabilize, the market risks facing the most significant decline since the crypto boom of 2017–2018, when component prices rose almost monthly.
