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The RAM crisis will be a key topic this year, as it's already setting the tone of the tech we can expect and the price we'll have to pay for it all. No, it's not something anyone is looking forward to (except for those doubling down on AI), but when will costs soar?
Well, as it turns out, we may have a bit of wiggle room. With Intel saying that laptop makers have "about 9 to 12 months" of stock before new prices may be set, it'll be some time before we see the impact of the memory shortage hit upcoming products.
After speaking with Sascha Krohn, Asus' Director of Technical Marketing, it's become clear that "a lot of people are going to be surprised" when the RAM crisis will affect the price of laptops, phones, gaming consoles and more — especially at retailers.
How long will it take before the RAM crisis hits everything?
"I think something that a lot of people aren't aware of — like end users, and I think also media — is how long it takes for that shockwave to travel through the supply chain until it actually affects the price of devices that you see in Best Buy, Walmart or Amazon," Krohn explains.
If anything, that's good news for the devices we saw at CES 2026. As with all manufacturers, all-new devices are planned well in advance before they come to shelves. Because of this, companies like Asus make sure there are enough components in stock to deliver the supply they aim to sell.
Krohn continues: "It takes a couple of months. So I think a lot of people are going to be surprised when they see that, 'Oh, memory prices went up, but oh, laptop prices and phone prices and also gaming console prices didn't really go up yet.'"
This isn't to say that costs won't go up, though, as Krohn is very much aware of how the memory shortage will affect the industry. "I think that is still going to happen. It just takes more time until that travels down the supply chain until it reaches the retail stores and e-tail stores."
Explaining the supply chain
Just because the price of RAM already started to skyrocket back in late 2025 doesn't mean this will immediately affect all the devices that require memory. This brings some pricing security for PC makers like Asus and, most importantly, for buyers. Krohn explains the process.
"Basically, we have a team dedicated to making sure that in August 2026, we have exactly this much memory because that's what we forecast we're going to need, and then we do some deals with memory vendors," Krohn explains.
"In August 2026, we'll need this much. In July, we'll need this much. In June, we need this much. So that kind of helps us to protect ourselves a little bit from memory prices going up and down."
Now, the allocated memory for upcoming laptops that have been planned in advance means those prices shouldn't shift drastically, but this won't last forever. Manufacturers are scrambling to get as much RAM as they can from a dwindling supply, and it doesn't help that one of the largest consumer RAM suppliers, Micron, states, "there's just not enough supply to go around."
Krohn goes into this further: "But at the same time, you never know exactly how much memory you're going to need, right? So you can never really forecast 100% accurately. So there is still going to be a big impact on the day memory prices are still going to impact devices."
Calm before RAMageddon
So, as Asus puts it on the RAM shortage, "just a heads up for everybody who's reading this, that is something that is still going to happen. But on the plus side, the way that we allocate memory and plan for memory, it helps to even it out a little bit.
"It's not going to be a sudden shock, but it's going to be a bit more steady. But yeah, I do expect memory prices to go up, and that is definitely something that nobody's really looking forward to... except for memory vendors."
There's a big impact coming to all the devices we're anticipating throughout 2026 and beyond, but not quite in the immediate future, as Krohn explains. With Intel Core Ultra Series 3 and Snapdragon X2 Elite chips set to arrive soon, we're already looking forward to a big year for laptops, but more than ever, price will become a huge factor.
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