AI pressure on the DRAM memory market is starting to trickle down to consumer hardware in some pretty concrete ways. The data centers that support models like ChatGPT or Gemini compete for the same chips that go into phones, and that supply tension — documented by TrendForce analysts and leakers like Lanzuk or Digital Chat Station — has been pushing prices up for months and forcing manufacturers to rethink your bills of materials from the first quarter of 2026.
The debate in many media has focused on the possible return to 8 GB of RAM in the mid-range, but the most significant cut for the everyday user is another: lback to 6 GBa figure that seemed already buried in this segment. Some models might even stay at 4 GBa level where the difference in multitasking and sustained performance is perceived without the need for benchmark testing.
Not just the RAM: the drop notch and 90 Hz are knocking on the door again
RAM, in any case, is not the only component that is on the table. To balance margins, manufacturers are considering adjustments that together take the product back to positions from four or five years ago: 90 Hz screens with drop-shaped notch instead of the now widespread centered punch, plastic frames where there was previously aluminum, and the return of the hybrid slot for microSD. Individually, each change has a reasonable justification; Added together, the result is a 2026 mid-range with a 2021 technical sheet.
And the problem does not stop with mobile phones. According to Gartner, a 130% rise in the combined prices of DRAM and SSD will push computer prices up 17% compared to 2025, causing the sub-$500 PC market to completely disappear in 2028. Android consoles They are not spared either: the launch of Valve's Steam Machine, scheduled for this year, has been delayed precisely due to the shortage and price of RAM.
What makes the scenario especially uncomfortable for the buyer is the asymmetry: AI is used as a sales argument in practically any range, but it is also the direct cause of the phones on which it runs arriving with less memory and lower-refresh screens. The middle segment absorbs the blow because it has less margin than the low-cost to compete on price and less brand untouchability than the flagship to justify the cut.
Are you willing to pay more for a mobile phone, a laptop or a console that, on top of that, comes with worse specifications than two years ago?
