Samsung says RAM costs will likely lead to price hikes soon

Samsung anticipates rising prices for its products due to a global RAM shortage. This shortage is primarily driven by the high demand from AI data centers. Wonjin Lee, a Samsung marketing leader, confirmed these concerns at CES 2026. This stark announcement follows earlier silence on pricing adjustments. The scarcity is impacting the semiconductor supply chain, leading to price increases across the board. Samsung acknowledges it might have to raise prices despite hoping to shield consumers. High-bandwidth memory consumption by AI is the main cause of the issue. Even low-bandwidth RAM for vehicles is experiencing shortages because of the shift in production priorities. AI workloads demand enormous memory, bandwidth, and proximity to computing power. The rise of AI, spurred by tools like ChatGPT, has intensified the demand. Some financial experts are expressing concerns about a potential AI bubble. Ultimately, the current situation seems to disadvantage consumers and workers.