- Lenovo has said that RAM prices will likely “never” fall back to pre-crisis levels
- The company also predicted a “new normal” for memory pricing from 2030 onwards
- Microsoft expects the cost of memory to double in just over a year
If you were hoping we might get to the weekend without any more bad news on the RAM front, that hope is about to be crushed courtesy of Lenovo and Microsoft — and there’s a side serving of blame for Apple, too.
First off, as German tech site ComputerBase reports (via Wccftech), over at ISC 2026 — the high-performance computing, AI, and quantum conference in Germany — Lenovo said that RAM prices will likely “never” fall back to the pre-crisis levels of a year ago, even after the bolstering of chip production output that’s coming (from 2028 onwards).
Lenovo seemingly said “never,” accompanied by some on-stage laughter, according to ComputerBase, and the tech site (bearing in mind translation nuances) clarifies that this is really referring to the next five years (or maybe a bit more) for the RAM industry, and not an ‘absolute’ future.
However, the report then goes on to mention that Lenovo sees a “new normal” from 2030 onwards with significantly higher prices than pre-crisis levels — even given increased production.
On top of that, Microsoft just announced hefty price increases for Xbox consoles driven by the RAM crisis. The firm stated, “Unfortunately, console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x, and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027.”
Ouch. Microsoft underlined that the memory price hikes are especially painful for console makers, as these devices are typically sold at a (slight) loss, as the revenue is made up in game sales (and subscriptions).
Lastly, Wccftech also spotted that Micron has fired some flak at Apple, although the memory chip maker didn’t name Tim Cook’s firm specifically, but it’s clear enough where the shot was…
