The End of the Memory Crisis?: RAM Prices Fall - For Now

[19:25 Sun,29.March 2026 by Thomas Richter]

Surprisingly, RAM prices have fallen for the first time since the beginning of the memory crisis. American media report drastic price reductions from several retailers such as Amazon and Newegg for DDR5 kits. For example, 6400MHz 32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 has dropped from to around , and 16GB modules from to .

But why the price crash?
Central to the crisis is the enormous demand for RAM (and other hardware like GPUs and SSDs), caused by the AI boom and the data centers required for it. Specifically, the memory crisis was caused by two[secret memory deals by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman](www.slashcam.de/news/single/Ist-Sam-Altman-schuld-an-der-grossen-Speicherkrise--19700.html), with which he reserved about 40% of the global monthly DRAM production at once for future gigantic new data centers through letters of intent. This created panic among competitors, who then also bought RAM on a large scale, resulting in a drastic shortage and price increase (up to four times higher prices) for DRAM and subsequently for products that integrate it (such as graphics cards).

According to various theories, two events are now responsible for the price drop: And this very hunger for AI memory, central to the crisis, is now being radically reduced: Google published the algorithm named TurboQuant a few days ago, which is supposed to reduce the memory requirement for AI applications by at least 6 times without significantly affecting the quality of the results. After the publication of this algorithm, the stocks of major memory manufacturers such as Micron, Hynix, and Samsung fell significantly (Samsung fell by 4.8% and SK Hynix by 6.23%) – because one possible effect is a now covered memory demand. However, other voices point out that the reduced memory requirement could lead to lower token prices (i.e., lower costs for using AI) and thus to increased usage, which could theoretically compensate for the declining memory requirement again.

Sharply increased memory prices since

Another possible factor is the fact that OpenAI has canceled the construction of several data centers, suggesting that the previously optimistic steady AI growth is no longer continuing and the forecasts of steadily increasing memory demand due to ever more new data centers are no longer accurate. Demand is therefore falling, and consequently, so is the price.

These are just theories and the interactions are complex; RAM prices in Germany do not yet seem to have fallen, but if they do, one should strike while the iron is hot if needed, because it is not clear whether they will actually continue to fall: because apart from the two factors mentioned, chip production faces a crisis due to the disruption of helium supplies following the Iran war, which is necessary for chip manufacturing.

more infos at bei wccftech.com

deutsche Version dieser Seite: Huch, die RAM-Preise sinken - vorerst