The global AI memory shortage has finally come for consumers’ pockets. Last week, Apple (AAPL) announced price increases to its MacBook and iPad lines of products, as well as its home devices and Vision Pro.
The price hikes are just the latest in a growing number of increases hitting the consumer electronics industry that shows no signs of slowing down.
It all comes down to memory, otherwise known as RAM, and storage. The worldwide AI data center build-out has created an incredible amount of demand for both components.
Memory supply, in particular, is severely restricted because of a type of memory called DRAM, or dynamic random-access memory. DRAM is used to build two different types of specialized memory: DDR RAM and HBM memory.
DDR RAM is found in laptops, smartphones, and a host of other consumer electronics devices, while HBM memory is used in the servers that train and run AI models in data centers.
Deep-pocketed data center builders, however, are snatching up as much HBM memory as possible, cutting into the supply of DDR RAM and creating the ongoing worldwide memory crisis.
There’s no easy fix, either.
Recent prices hikes from Apple
Micron (MU) chief business officer Sumit Sadana told Yahoo Finance this week that, because no manufacturing facilities are available to build more memory chips, the company is investing in new factories. But it will take years for that capacity to come online.
Apple isn’t the only company that has had to raise its product prices. Samsung (005930.KS) launched its latest Galaxy S26 smartphones at higher prices than their predecessors, and increased the prices of its Tab S11 tablets and the Galaxy Z Flip 7 foldable phone.
Samsung price increases
Technology companies generally lower the prices of their products as high-volume production helps reduce costs.
Game console makers, in particular, are known for cutting the prices of their systems as they age. But the memory crisis, as well as the impact of President Trump’s global tariffs, has put a halt to that practice.
Microsoft Xbox price hikes
In addition to Apple, Microsoft (MSFT) last Thursday announced it is raising the price of its Xbox Series S and Series X consoles, and Sony (SONY) previously increased the cost of its PlayStation 5. Those systems each launched in late 2020, making the price jumps especially painful for consumers.
Sony recently upped the prices of its PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro
Nintendo (NTDOY) has similarly raised the price of its Switch 2.
The company has also increased the price of its original Switch console, which launched in 2017 for $299, to $339.
Nintendo Switch 2 price increase goes into effect Sept. 1
For the time being, it will be all but impossible to avoid the impact of the memory shortage on consumer electronics.Â
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Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@yahoofinance.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.
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