DRAM Shortage Could Kill Budget Phones in 2027 — And Hit Gaming PC Prices Too

A memory shortage that’s already made headlines in the PC and console space is about to get a lot worse, and this time it could wipe budget smartphones off the map entirely. According to a report from wccftech, industry watchers believe AI data centres will consume more than 60 percent of the world’s annual DRAM supply within the next year, leaving smartphone makers, PC builders and console manufacturers fighting over the scraps.

The numbers behind this squeeze are staggering. Wccftech, citing a report from MyDrivers, notes that DRAM prices have already climbed by as much as 700 percent since 2022, and that by the end of 2026 more than half of the world’s memory supply will already be earmarked for AI computing rather than consumer electronics. For anyone who’s tried to price out a new gaming rig lately, that explains a lot.

Why Gamers Should Care About a Phone Shortage

This story is framed around budget smartphones, but the underlying mechanism affects anyone buying gaming hardware. DRAM and its mobile variant LPDDR aren’t just used in phones; they’re the same commodity pool that feeds gaming laptops, desktop RAM kits, and even the memory controllers inside consoles and handhelds like Steam Deck-style devices.

When three companies — Samsung, SK hynix and Micron — control roughly 90 percent of global DRAM supply, as wccftech points out, any squeeze at the top ripples straight down to every product category that relies on memory chips. That includes the next wave of gaming PCs, upgrade kits, and possibly future console refreshes.

Budget Handsets in the $220 Bracket Could Disappear

According to wccftech’s reporting on the MyDrivers findings, budget phones priced around 1,500 yuan, roughly $220 USD, could vanish entirely in 2027. The reasoning is blunt: storage and memory costs are projected to account for 60 percent of a handset’s total price, leaving manufacturers with almost no margin unless they raise prices dramatically or cut the segment altogether.

Research firm IDC is cited in the same report as forecasting that smartphone shipments could fall to their lowest level since 2013, with PC shipments also expected to decline. For gamers eyeing a new handheld, laptop or budget PC build in the coming year, that’s a warning sign that supply-driven price hikes won’t be limited to phones.

Chinese Chipmakers CXMT and YMTC Offer Limited Relief

Wccftech notes that China’s CXMT and YMTC represent the only real alternative to the Samsung-SK hynix-Micron trio, and they’re already supplying domestic brands like Huawei, Xiaomi and OPPO without friction. Companies outside China, however, face a maze of geopolitical restrictions before they can tap into that supply.

Apple is reportedly lobbying the Trump Administration to smooth its own supply chain issues, and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, quoted in wccftech’s piece, has said that any tie-up between Apple and the Chinese memory makers would only reduce supply risk rather than lower prices. In other words, even if manufacturers secure more chips, they’re not doing it cheaply, and there’s little reason to expect that dynamic to be any different for companies building gaming hardware.

Lenovo Calls Higher Prices the “New Normal”

Perhaps the most telling detail in wccftech’s report is Lenovo’s own framing of the situation. Rather than treating the price surge as a temporary blip, the company reportedly wants customers to get used to it, describing the current DRAM pricing environment as the “new normal.”

For gamers in New Zealand and Australia, who already pay a premium on imported hardware due to freight and currency conversion, a global memory shortage of this scale is unlikely to be absorbed quietly by retailers. Anyone planning a PC upgrade, a new gaming laptop, or a handheld purchase in the next year might want to treat 2026 as the calmer window before AI’s appetite for memory chips reshapes what “budget” even means in gaming hardware.

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