Rising demand linked to artificial intelligence infrastructure is driving a sharp increase in memory chip prices, with major manufacturers including Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU), Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and SK Hynix Inc expected to benefit from the surge, according to new data from Counterpoint Research. The analytics firm said memory pricing has climbed significantly during the first quarter of 2026 compared with the previous three months, fuelled largely by expanding AI-related server demand.
Counterpoint identified general-purpose server DRAM as the main contributor to the spike, while NAND memory — which had remained relatively stable during the final quarter of 2025 — also recorded notable price increases. Server memory pricing rose by an average of between 90% and 98% during Q1, following an earlier rise of between 60% and 76% in Q4 2025. The firm expects server memory costs to climb by a further 20% in the second quarter of 2026.
PC memory pricing also saw strong growth, increasing between 91% and 100% in Q1 after rising between 20% and 35% in the prior quarter. Analysts expect PC memory costs to continue trending higher, forecasting an additional increase of roughly 15% to 20% during Q2.
The sharp rise in pricing is expected to significantly support profitability among leading memory chip producers, which already recorded strong earnings expansion during 2025 amid surging AI-related demand. Advanced memory components remain critical to AI data centre development due to the intensive processing requirements of generative AI technologies. Major technology companies investing heavily in AI infrastructure — often referred to as hyperscalers — have accelerated purchasing of memory chips over the past year, further tightening supply.
Several manufacturers have cautioned that AI-driven demand may exceed production capacity, raising concerns about potential shortages across the memory supply chain.
However, rising component costs are creating challenges for consumer electronics manufacturers, with several companies warning that higher input costs could squeeze profit margins and lead to product price increases. PC producers including Lenovo Group and Dell Technologies Inc (NYSE:DELL) have indicated that they may raise device prices in 2026 once current memory supply agreements expire and new inventory must be sourced at higher market rates.
“For device manufacturers, this is a double whammy – rising component costs and weakened consumer purchasing power will likely slow the demand as the quarter progresses,” Jeongku Choi, senior analyst at Counterpoint said in a mailed statement.
“This calls for OEMs to change procurement patterns or focus on premium models to justify the higher price by delivering more value to consumers.”
Other consumer electronics manufacturers, including smartphone producers such as Samsung and gaming hardware developers such as Nintendo Co Ltd, have also highlighted potential pressure from elevated memory costs.