The 2020s have been a tough decade for gaming hardware so far. Manufacturers barely had time to recover from the various COVID-related supply chain issues that crippled the launch of consoles like PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, when they faced a new problem: the growth of AI data centers and the RAM they eat.
In fact, if you've been trying to build a PC these past few months, I don't have to tell you that some components can be hard to come by. In particular, DDR4 and DDR5 RAM, as well as hard and solid-state drives, have skyrocketed in price. Disappointingly, these sharp spikes are almost entirely the result of aggressive global investment in artificial intelligence. Last year alone, AI firms accounted for 61% of all global venture capital investments – corresponding to a total of $258.7 Arab. I wish I had good news for you, but I don't: RAM and SSD prices will get worse before they get better.
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Don't expect Ram's shortcomings to close anytime soon
AI data centers continue to put a chokehold on global RAM supplies
You may have heard about the physical impact of AI before. For example, many are keen to point out the huge amount of water consumed by AI data centers. But they, surprisingly, require a lot of hard stuff, including high-bandwidth memory, which is the type of RAM that's often used for general system RAM and VRAM. Again, generative AI is not a cottage industry, so the strain it puts on this market is significant. I could say it's incredible, but it's not entirely true: analysts have reported that ChatGPT platform holder OpenAI has reserved as much as 40% of global RAM by 2025.
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This has resulted in an increase in RAM pricing of between 200% and 400% worldwide, as well as a sharp increase in demand for the raw materials used to manufacture RAM sticks, further exacerbating the shortage. Part and parcel of this is the increasingly low number of parts available for NAND storage, the type of storage used in hard drives and SSDs. This will likely have a knock-on effect on other PC components as well – expect CPU prices to climb at an unusually fast rate.
There are precious few signs that this trend is slowing; Many financial reports have suggested that this will actually accelerate. Take a remarkable 2024 analysis by renowned management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which predicted that demand for data centers could grow by 27% by 2030, requiring nearly quintuple the power they use today. Such growth would require an unprecedented amount of material for the region. To put a finer point on this, as of April 2026, Samsung and SK Hynix – which supply around 90% of global dynamic RAM – have publicly warned that they will not meet their supply demands until 2027.
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Geopolitical factors further complicate component manufacturing and transportation
Although their impact on RAM costs is not as significant as that of the AI industry, President Trump's tariffs and rising global tensions have certainly fueled rising RAM costs. On top of the tariffs and war-related supply chain problems, many tech firms have reportedly scaled back certain global business operations. For example, throughout 2025, in which Trump enthusiastically announced much tougher tariffs and aggressive trade strategies, both Samsung and SK Hynix halted shipments of out-of-phase semiconductor manufacturing machines to China, where a substantial amount of electronics is produced. Generally, these machines will play an important role in global tech manufacturing; Now they are sitting unused in the warehouse.
Another potential complicating factor for the RAM market in May is the ongoing unrest from Samsung's labor union, which is threatening an 18-day strike starting on May 21.
Will running gaming hardware be affected by the lack of RAM, and for how long?
Steam recently reported that the new Steam controller was not affected by the parts shortage, which is some good news that probably doesn't apply to most gaming hardware. For now, it's safe to assume that basically every piece of technology that uses RAM or storage will be expensive for the next several years, and in fact, prices may continue to climb. It may seem like we're knee-deep in this issue now, but we're just getting started: AI companies like OpenAI are still in the research and development phase — their energy and hardware demands will only increase if AI adoption becomes more widespread.
Upcoming gaming hardware that will likely be affected by the RAM and SSD crisis
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PlayStation 6
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Project Helix (Next Xbox)
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The Steam Machine
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Steam Deck 2
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Steam frame
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All GPU and SSD wafers
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All pre-built PCs
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All new laptops, desktops and mobile devices
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It can't last forever though. Overall, the AI industry is still unprofitable, and the general hype for the technology has decreased, especially as applied AI developments become less frequent and dramatic. If investors become increasingly wary of the growing industry, AI companies may pull back on data center construction, thus easing some of the pressure on the aforementioned materials. Or the industry could go through a bubble, where huge capital investments are not met with meaningful returns, which would completely re-contextualize the AI discussion. There is also the possibility that technological innovation will lead to more efficiencies or alternatives that reduce the strain on resources. And while the political arena, especially in the West, has been surprisingly pro-AI in recent years, it could go dramatically further. The political upheaval in America alone is enough to make such a change seem more realistic than it was a year ago.
But even in the best-case scenario, these RAM problems won't be solved overnight. There will be a wind-down period, during which changing supply chain structures, reallocation of resources, and power vacuums may cause delays or further complications between high-level changes and actual consumer prices. More importantly, the solution to the AI data center problem will not appear out of thin air. Lawmakers, local leaders, and all citizens of a democratic society must push for meaningful AI regulation, if they want it. Likewise, consumers need to vote with their wallets if they want to stop AI from colonizing the tech world.
