PC manufacturers rely on past stocks, so the price increase for laptops is less noticeable compared to RAM. However, according to ZDNet Korea, citing an anonymous source, major manufacturers are losing money by maintaining current prices.
The source claims:
We are forced to raise prices for new products next year by at least 20% and quickly discontinue existing ones.
The main reason is that DRAM manufacturers, such as Samsung and SK Hynix, are reallocating most of the memory for AI products (HBM, LPDDR). To get memory for consumer devices, companies have to pay more. Even if companies are willing to pay, DRAM manufacturers are focusing on "profitability", directing most of the production to the AI sector.
It is expected that new devices based on Intel Panther Lake and AMD Gorgon Point APUs will be significantly more expensive, and the memory shortage will persist, making PC assembly more expensive in 2026.
