The cheapest part of a computer to overlook is getting expensive again. Memory prices are climbing through the second half of 2026, and the reason is the same one reshaping every corner of the chip industry: artificial intelligence is buying the supply first.
TrendForce, the memory research firm the industry watches for contract pricing, forecasts that conventional DRAM contract prices will rise 13 to 18 percent quarter on quarter in the third quarter of 2026, with NAND Flash, the chips inside solid-state drives, up 10 to 15 percent. Server DRAM, the memory that goes into data-centre machines, is set to climb by the same 13 to 18 percent. These are contract prices, what the manufacturers charge the brands, and they flow through to what a shopper eventually pays.
The driver is not a factory fire or a shortage of raw materials. It is a deliberate reallocation. Memory makers have tilted their production toward high-bandwidth memory and server DRAM, the parts that feed AI accelerators, because that is where the demand and the margins are. TrendForce notes that server DRAM remains undersupplied and expects that tightness to run into 2027. Every wafer committed to an AI server is a wafer not making the ordinary memory that goes into a laptop, a phone or a desktop stick.
What is going up, and by how much
| Memory type | Q3 2026 contract price change (quarter on quarter) |
|---|---|
| Conventional DRAM | +13% to +18% |
| Server DRAM | +13% to +18% |
| NAND Flash (SSD storage) | +10% to +15% |
Source: TrendForce Q3 2026 memory forecasts, July 2026.
There is one piece of relief in the forecast, and it comes from buyers running out of room. TrendForce says contract prices are already at record highs, so PC and smartphone customers are reaching the limit of what they will pay. That resistance is expected to slow the increases rather than reverse them: the firm has since guided that PC DRAM contract prices should moderate to a 3 to 8 percent rise in the fourth quarter. Slower, but still up.
What it means for a build in Malaysia
For anyone assembling or upgrading a machine here, this lands on two line items that used to be an afterthought. A 32GB DDR5 desktop kit already spans a wide range on Malaysian marketplaces, from around RM800 for a basic set to well past RM2,000 for faster branded kits, and SSD prices have been drifting the same way. Neither is the headline component in a build, which is exactly why a double-digit rise across both is easy to miss until the final total.
It matters most to the people we build for. A video-editing or content-creation rig leans hard on memory and fast storage: large capacities of RAM to hold timelines and layers, and quick SSDs to scrub high-resolution footage. When DRAM and NAND both climb in the same quarter, the creator machine takes the increase twice. The relief that used to come from waiting a few months for prices to fall is not on the table this cycle.
There is a Malaysian irony folded into this. The same AI build-out that is pulling memory toward data centres is one Malaysia is actively courting, from the multi-billion-ringgit investments landing in Johor to the data-centre deals being anchored here. We have written before about how that boom quietly reaches your desk through the price of a graphics card. Memory is the same story, one component over.
The practical read is simple. If a memory or storage upgrade is on your list, the forecast points up through the end of 2026, easing only in the fourth quarter and staying tight into 2027 on the server side. There is no cheap window coming to reward patience this time.
Image(s) courtesy of Harrison Broadbent and Andrey Matveev on Unsplash.
