Upgrading your RAM could soon be surprisingly cheaper
RAM prices could be falling soon
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Upgrading your PC with some newRAMmay soon be much less expensive, a new report has claimed.
The price of DRAM and NAND flash are reportedly set to see a dramatic fall within the next few months, offering a welcome relief for gamers and home-builders across the world.
A memo from Gartner seen byThe Registerbelieves that prices are set to crash in the second half of 2022 as hardware floods the market following the currentglobal chip shortage.
Global shortage
The memo says that by this time, an “oversupply” of memory chips will swamp the market as manufacturers look to bounce back from the 2021 worldwide chip shortage. It notes that a “significant price reduction” is the most likely outcome of this, meaning prices for chips should fall dramatically.
The news may have a knock-on effect on device manufacturers themselves, with Gartner’s memo appearing to urge makers of devices such as PCs and laptops to bump up their production of memory-hungry products in order to take advantage of the flood of cheap chips.
Gartner did note that overall market conditions for 2022 would be “unusual”, suggesting further price fluctuations and changes could be the norm going forward.
The global chip shortage has been highlighted by companies throughout the technology world as one of the key impacts of the pandemic on tech as a whole. It is the result of a multitude of factors starting with the shuttering of production facilities due to health protocols, coupled with the sudden rise in demand for tech gear, includinglaptopsandtabletsas people around the world were forced towork and study remotelydue to worldwide lockdowns.
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Asevere drought in Taiwan, which forced the country to divert water supply from several industrial areas, including a hub of semiconductor manufacturing, further compounded the global shortage.
There is little consensus when it comes to assessing the extent of the problem and defining a timeline for recovery. Some say the shortage will ease up next year, others say problems will persist until 2023 and beyond.
Even industry heavyweights have remained non-committal about future supplies, withIntel CEO Pat Gelsingerrecently noting that it will take, “another one to two years before the industry is able to completely catch up with the demand.”
ViaThe Register
Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK’s leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he’s not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.
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