XMG and Schenker, the companies behind gaming laptops and workstations, say DDR5 SO-DIMM prices have increased sixfold since July 2025. The jump has forced price hikes of $113 and $228 on most gaming laptop models, and $342 on one professional laptop. The companies say their margins are fixed and the increases come entirely from upstream costs, which also include SSDs, PCBs, CPUs, graphics cards, and video memory.
The laptop maker ties part of the pressure to the Middle East conflict, which has raised fuel costs, air freight rates, and insurance premiums for sea cargo moving through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. It also says it will cut retail prices if input costs fall, similar to Framework's recent move to lower LPCAMM2 memory prices after finding a cheaper source.
On the outlook, the industry is split. XMG echoes Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra's view that DRAM shortages will last well into 2027. Asus CEO Jason Chen disagrees, predicting component prices will start reversing in the second half of 2027, helped by Chinese memory makers and cooling consumer demand. The source notes there is no way to know which forecast is correct.Strict JSON only.{