In summary:
- PCWorld reports that DRAM and SSD costs could surge 130% by late 2026, driven by AI infrastructure demands creating memory shortages.
- Entry-level PCs under $500 may disappear entirely by 2028, with average PC prices rising 17% across the market.
- Consumers are expected to keep their current computers 20% longer before upgrading due to these significant price increases.
Buying a cheap PC may soon become significantly more difficult. According to research firm Gartner, sharply rising memory prices are expected to make computers more expensive in the short term and could cause the entry-level PC market to “disappear” by 2028.
The market chaos is largely driven by the growth of AI, with newly planned AI infrastructure gobbling up all the RAM it can get its hands on, leaving little-to-none for the consumer market. Prices for DRAM memory and SSD storage are expected to jump around 130 percent by the end of 2026, driving PC prices up an average of 17 percent.
As PCs become more expensive, both businesses and individuals are expected to hold on to their current sysetms for much longer than they might’ve anticipated. Gartner estimates that consumers may use their computers up to 20 percent longer before upgrading.
The budget segment is particularly vulnerable. Gartner believes that PCs in the entry-level range (under $500) may wind down and disappear altogether as early as 2028. At the same time, the development of so-called AI PCs is expected to slow down as higher component costs make it more difficult to produce at reasonable prices.
This article originally appeared on our sister publication PC för Alla and was translated and localized from Swedish.
Author: Viktor Eriksson, Contributor, PCWorld
Viktor writes news and reports for our sister sites, M3 and PC för Alla. He is passionate about technology and is on the ball with the latest product releases and the hottest talking points in the consumer tech industry.