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Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

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Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#211

Post by david422 »

naet wrote: post #127

I almost upgraded my computer a year or two ago, but decided to hold off for a bit longer. I've always been fine with being "behind" on the latest and greatest. I don't mind watching a movie, playing a game, buying a cell phone, etc, that was released a few years prior. If it was really all that great when it came out it should still be good later on. Buying slow usually saves a.good bit of money when prices go down…

I upgraded a year ago and I bought a bunch of extra RAM because it was "so cheap", why not. Man did I get lucky, I got it right before the price hikes started.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#212

Post by cm2187 »

minraws wrote: post #179
cm2187 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think everyone is aware now that you don't build a fab by snapping your fingers, and you need to amortise it over many years. The said manufacturers are just out of a massive slump in demand during covid, when they were selling at a loss, and these cycles happened many times in this industry. It is understandable that they don't jump all-in on the AI bandwagon, which, god knows where it is going and for how long. I…

I feel like I and HN live in different worlds, https://www.blocksandfiles.com/ai-ml/2026/01/20/samsung-sk-h... Big manufactures have absolutely cut production of lower margin products and it's not like they can re-purpose all of the equipment used for it for HBM yet. edit They can definitely focus more resource because of it on HBM though. Things have improved a bit since govts are starting to get angry. Tldr; no one…

Margins pre-AI were more like 5-15%. Even if the margin was 5%, if prices increased 5 times but product cost didn't move, then margins are now 80%. That's not a 30-40% product, your argument doesn't make any sense.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#213

Post by doubled112 »

Iolaum wrote: post #180
carlosjobim wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everybody needs electricity and water, but nobody needs more RAM except for companies. And they can pay for it.

Hello!? Us consumers need it too.

Really depends how you're defining "need".

Will you die without it?

Will your life as you know it end if your next phone has 8GB instead of 12GB?

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#214

Post by duped »

lvzw wrote: post #147
ncallaway wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you have a massive excess of demand ready to pay any price, and a limited supply, of course the sellers will take advantage, that's how any market work The question is how quickly the supply adjusts. In a free market, the suppliers would respond to the price signal by quickly expanding their production to meet the elevated demand. But a market captured by a cartel will be much slower to expand the supply. So, th…

Memory fab build out times are years not months. The existing ones already run 24/7. If these companies could pull more supply out of thin air they would, but they cannot.

I'm curious what the limiting factor is for "years not months" when building these fabs. DRAM is a commodity, there are only threeish major manufacturers, all have huge amounts of capital, multiple nations bend over backwards for new semiconductor production projects, and there seems to be unlimited money going into purchasing these things.

Even when it comes to manufacturing the tooling/testing infrastructure, it's just a question of money aiui.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#215

Post by BeetleB »

datakan wrote: post #28
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #3

The situation is absolutely awful for anybody who needs significant memory or storage (or devices incorporating such). Even people who think they have enough for the next few years already could end up with an unpleasant surprise if they e.g. have a stick or two of RAM go bad or a GPU fry. I have a few machines with aging sticks that I'm hoping will manage to hold out until when/if things improve.

I'm saving a ton of money by simply not upgrading. I used to do upgrades every 1-2 years just to keep up on things, pass the old box down to my son or otherwise donate it. Now I intend to keep my current setup for 7+ years. Its 2 years old next month. I may even stay with it longer. I just see no reason to upgrade with things how they are. I considered a Mac Studio a couple months ago. Price was up but might have pul…

It's wild seeing so many comments about updating every 1-2 years.

When I build a PC, I pay a little extra because I want it to last a long time. I aim for 5 years, and in reality it usually ends up 7 years (life happens, need the money, etc).

I am now in year 8 of my current PC. I only had money to replace it this year, and am now stuck with it due to the RAM prices. It's going to really suck for me if my RAM fails in the next few years.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#216

Post by techteach00 »

techteach00 wrote: post #210

There is no law that states memory must be a consumer product. I truly believe the era of personal computing was a beautiful blip that our masters are beginning to take away from the general public. It could be terminals and time sharing for the foreseeable future through "smart" phones.

Just so I make it clear. I'm deeply opposed to this change.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#217

Post by layer8 »

jayd16 wrote: post #32

Any new fabs on the horizon or do the powers that be expect the music to stop sooner than that?

They are building fabs on track to get online towards the end of 2027, full capacity production expected for 2028. These are serious pieces of very complex technology that take years, not months, to build.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#218

Post by carlosjobim »

Iolaum wrote: post #180
carlosjobim wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everybody needs electricity and water, but nobody needs more RAM except for companies. And they can pay for it.

Hello!? Us consumers need it too.

You need 8GB at the very most, which isn't out of reach for any consumer. If you need more, then you are a professional and can afford more. Or you are a hobbyist, and your hobby doesn't deserve any subsidies from the hard working tax payer.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#219

Post by chriskanan »

1saadcodes wrote: post #105

500% in a year is just insane. I knew RAM prices were going up, but $3k+ for 128GB of DDR5 makes me wonder how much of this is actually AI demand, and how much is this just manufacturers taking advantage of it. They have done this in the past after all

Same thing happened with eggs in the USA with bird flu used as an excuse.

Re: Memory prices climb 500% in 12 months

#220

Post by sfn42 »

naet wrote: post #127

I almost upgraded my computer a year or two ago, but decided to hold off for a bit longer. I've always been fine with being "behind" on the latest and greatest. I don't mind watching a movie, playing a game, buying a cell phone, etc, that was released a few years prior. If it was really all that great when it came out it should still be good later on. Buying slow usually saves a.good bit of money when prices go down…

I ordered a new CPU on sale a while back, right when the memory prices started spiking. I didn't even know RAM was going up in price. Realized the CPU needed a new motherboard and ram so I ordered the motherboard, started looking at ram and realized it would cost almost as much as the Mobo and CPU put together. Cancelled the orders because I wasn't intending a big expensive upgrade.

What I have is still fine, though I do regret cancelling now.

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