RAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortage – The Verge

The future of game consoles is looking bleak

2026-05-08T10:36:08-04:00

It's been a real good news / bad news week for Nintendo. Out of nowhere on Wednesday, the company announced a lush remake of Star Fox 64, jolting the dormant franchise to life and helping to fill out a relatively sparse lineup for the Switch 2 for the rest of the year. But then on Friday, Nintendo announced news that had seemed inevitable, but is nonetheless significant: the Switch 2 is getting a price hike and will soon cost $50 more. Nintendo was the last holdout in a console space that has been ravaged by rising costs thanks to a combination of tariffs and the global memory shortage. And with the Switch 2 getting more expensive, console g …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Sony’s PS5 sales plummet amid price rises and a memory crisis

2026-05-08T06:46:01-04:00

Sony sold just 1.5 million PS5 consoles in its most recent fourth fiscal quarter, down 46 percent year over year. The slump in PS5 sales comes after Sony raised the price of its PS5 consoles twice over the past year, pushing the price of the regular PS5 from $499.99 all the way up to $649.99.

Sony blamed "continued pressures in the global economic landscape," for the price hikes in March, amid an ongoing memory crisis and pressure from the war in Iran. Sony now forecasts that annual gaming revenue will drop 6 percent, but these forecasts could be impacted by ongoing memory costs. "We plan to base our PS5 hardware sales in FY26 on the volume …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Nintendo is raising Switch 2 prices

2026-05-08T05:43:32-04:00

Nintendo is raising the price of its Switch 2 console globally, "in light of changes in market conditions," and is now forecasting a drop in sales over the next year. Starting September 1st, the Switch 2 will cost $499.99 in the US, up from its current $449.99 price.

At the same time, prices will also increase by $50 in Canada ($679.99, up from $629.99) and €40 in Europe, bringing it to €499.99 (about $587). The price increases in Japan go into effect sooner, on May 25th, and impact a greater range of Switch products. The Switch 2 will increase from ¥49,980 (about $318) to ¥59,980 (about $382), with similar increases being applied to the o …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple’s $599 MacBook Neo could be at risk from rising RAM prices

2026-05-07T11:05:37-04:00

The MacBook Neo might lose its most appealing trait thanks to the ongoing RAM shortage. According to analyst Tim Culpan, Apple could discontinue the budget-priced $599 base configuration of the Neo, leaving only the $699 model with 512GB of storage. Earlier this week, Apple similarly stopped selling the most affordable configuration of the Mac mini, effectively bumping its starting price up to $799. In March, Apple removed the option for 512GB of RAM in the Mac Studio, likely also as a result of RAM shortages.

Ironically, the MacBook Neo could face similar pricing changes because of its huge initial success. The Neo arrived right as the RA …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The Pixel 11 could be the next victim of the RAM shortage

2026-05-04T13:47:11-04:00

Google's next round of Pixel phones could be a downgrade compared to the Pixel 10 lineup due to the ongoing RAM shortage. Leaked specs for the Pixel 11 lineup shared by MysticLeaks include a possible starting configuration with only 8GB of RAM, rather than the current 12GB, as Android Headlines reports.

According to MysticLeaks, Google may also add a second configuration for the Pixel 11 Pro, Pro XL, and Pro Fold with 12GB of RAM, down from the current 16GB in each model. There will be 16GB configurations available for each, but adding a lower-spec model could mean the 16GB version is getting a price hike. However, the silver lining is tha …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Apple raises the Mac Mini’s starting price

2026-05-01T17:52:21-04:00

Apple's Mac Mini now starts at $799 after the company pulled the $599 option with 256GB of storage from its online store, as spotted earlier by MacRumors. The model's discontinuation comes just one day after Apple CEO Tim Cook said during an earnings call that a chip shortage will impact its Mac products in the coming months.

"If you look forward to June, the majority of our supply constraints will be on several Mac models," Cook said. "We think looking forward that the Mac Mini and the Mac Studio may take several months to reach supply-demand balance." He added that both devices saw "higher-than-expected demand" as well, with many people b …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Samsung says the RAM shortage could get even worse next year

2026-04-30T10:41:10-04:00

There may be a long wait before the end of the RAM shortage that's driving up prices on everything from phones to gaming handhelds. During an earnings call on Thursday, Samsung predicted that the severe memory shortage, driven by demand from AI data centers, will not only continue next year, but likely get worse, as reported by Reuters.

As Samsung memory chip business executive Kim Jaejune stated during the earnings call:

"Our supply falls far short of customer demand. Based solely on the demand currently received for 2027, the supply-to-demand gap for 2027 is set to widen even further than ⁠in 2026."

Samsung's prediction follows repor …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The RAM shortage could get even worse if Samsung labor protests cut production

2026-04-24T13:17:02-04:00

Samsung employees in South Korea are protesting for more competitive wages. | Photo: Seong Joon Cho / Bloomberg via Getty Images

The RAM shortage caused by demand from AI datacenters is already driving up prices on phones, PS5s, and Raspberry Pis, but it could be about to get even worse. Samsung is facing employee protests over demands for wages that are more competitive with rival chip manufacturer SK Hynix, including removing Samsung's cap on bonus pay, allocating more money for bonuses, and raising base salaries. According to AP News, an estimated 40,000 union members attended a rally on Thursday outside Samsung's Pyeongtaek, South Korea chip manufacturing facility.

If the union and management can't come to an agreement, the union is planning an 18-day strike begi …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The Lenovo Legion Go S is RAMageddon’s latest victim

2026-04-20T19:17:42-04:00

You can still find the Asus Xbox Ally X and the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus for $999 and $1,049 respectively, but Lenovo's Legion Go S has seemingly given up the fight. The best version of Lenovo's 8-inch handheld now costs nearly double what it did at launch - originally $829.99 last summer, the SteamOS version with Z1 Extreme chip now costs a staggering $1,579.99 at Best Buy.

That's an even bigger price hike than with Lenovo's flagship Legion Go 2, which saw up to a $650 price hike early this month.

Not every Legion Go S model costs nearly double what it did before, but none are anywhere near what they originally cost. The Windows Z1 Extreme mo …

Read the full story at The Verge.

The RAM shortage could last years

2026-04-20T05:28:13-04:00

According to Nikkei Asia, even as suppliers ramp up DRAM production, manufacturers are only expected to meet 60 percent of demand by the end of 2027. SK Group chairman has even said that shortages could last until 2030.

The world's largest memory makers - Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron - are all working to add new fabrication capacity, but almost none of it will be online until at least 2027, if not 2028. SK opened a fab in Cheongju in February, but that is the only increase in production among the three for 2026.

Nikkei says that production would need to increase by 12 percent a year in 2026 and 2027 to meet demand. But according to Counte …

Read the full story at The Verge.