The memory price surge is being driven by a combination of factors: increased demand from AI data centres hoovering up high-bandwidth memory, constrained manufacturing capacity after years of underinvestment, and the ongoing transition to newer process nodes that has temporarily reduced yields.

For consumers, the impact is direct — memory typically accounts for a significant portion of a device's bill of materials. When DRAM and NAND prices spike, manufacturers of budget devices face an impossible choice: absorb the costs and destroy margins, or raise prices and lose the budget-conscious buyers who are their core market.

The forecast decline in PC shipments adds another headwind for an industry already struggling with weak consumer demand in many markets. Smartphone makers in emerging economies, where budget devices dominate, could be hit particularly hard.