AI Boom Could Make Phones, Laptops, and Consoles More Expensive, Manufacturers Warn of Price Increases Up to 20%

The artificial intelligence boom is reshaping the global tech industry, with effects extending beyond data centers. Rapidly increasing demand for AI infrastructure has made high-speed memory a critical resource, causing a ripple effect that will soon impact consumer products like smartphones, laptops, and gaming consoles. Prices for these devices could rise by as much as 20%.

AI infrastructure now critically depends on components that are already difficult to procure. "Artificial intelligence has turned high-bandwidth memory into the most critical bottleneck in the global digital economy, and stocks of HBM for 2026 are already depleted," stated eToro analyst Bogdan Maioreanu. This memory shortage and price explosion are driven by the global competition among tech companies to develop increasingly powerful AI systems.

These systems require vast amounts of high-speed memory, creating a significant imbalance between supply and demand. Cloud service providers and AI chip manufacturers are in an accelerated race to secure HBM4, the latest generation of high-bandwidth memory designed for data-intensive AI accelerators and high-performance computing processors. This competition is driving prices up rapidly.

Analysis from TrendForce shows that contractual prices for DRAM increased by 90%-95% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous quarter. NAND Flash prices rose by 55%-60% in the same period. TrendForce forecasts another 58%-63% increase for DRAM and 70%-75% for NAND Flash in the second quarter of 2026, indicating sustained pressure on the global memory market. Memory is no longer just a technical component but a constraint for the entire digital industry, directly influencing the final cost of electronic products.

The imbalance in the memory market is not confined to AI infrastructure; it directly transmits to the consumer electronics industry. The same components are used in mobile phones, laptops, gaming consoles, and PCs, meaning any price increase in the memory market will quickly reflect in the final products. Memory can constitute 10% to 20% of a smartphone's total production cost, so price fluctuations have a direct and immediate impact on the retail price.

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Artificial intelligence has turned high-bandwidth memory into the most critical bottleneck in the global digital economy, and stocks of HBM for 2026 are already depleted.