Stop Waiting for RAM Prices to Drop. Lenovo Says They Are Not Coming Back.

Topic: RAM / DRAM / NAND Pricing  |  Source : Lenovo Executive at ISC 2026  |  Reported by: ComputerBase / WCCFTech  |  Date: June 2026

Lenovo, the world’s largest PC manufacturer by volume, told attendees at ISC 2026 in Germany that DRAM and NAND flash memory prices will “never” return to their pre-2025 levels. The statement came from a Lenovo company executive presenting at the conference and was first reported by ComputerBase, then confirmed and expanded by WCCFTech. The comment represents the most direct acknowledgment yet from the hardware supply chain that the memory price crisis is a structural shift, not a temporary spike.

What Lenovo Actually Said

The core statement was simple and unambiguous. Despite major DRAM and NAND manufacturers including Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron building new fabrication capacity and expanding supply, Lenovo believes those efforts will not be enough to close the supply-demand gap. WCCFTech reported that Lenovo’s presenter noted the original “never” comment was delivered with a degree of humor, but then went on to substantiate the prediction in full seriousness: higher prices would settle into a “new normal” moving into 2030 and beyond.

Lenovo also predicted that even when supply eventually meets demand, the new equilibrium price point will be substantially higher than what consumers paid in early 2025. In other words, the goal the market has been waiting for, supply catching up to demand, does not result in a return to previous prices. It results in a higher-priced stable state.

Why Memory Prices Rose in the First Place

The memory shortage began accelerating in 2022 and became severe by 2024. The primary driver is AI infrastructure. Every major AI data center deployment requires enormous quantities of High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), DRAM, and NAND flash. NVIDIA’s H100 and H200 GPU clusters alone consume HBM at volumes that have strained the entire global memory supply chain.

Furthermore, the three companies that collectively control the majority of global DRAM production, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, all pivoted significant manufacturing capacity toward HBM for AI data centers, where margins are substantially higher than for consumer DDR4 and DDR5. The consequence was an artificial scarcity of consumer memory at exactly the moment demand for PC upgrades and new console hardware was rising.

Additionally, a class action lawsuit filed on June 25, 2026 in a California federal court accuses all three companies of coordinating that production shift to inflate consumer prices deliberately. That case remains in its earliest stage and no findings have been made. However, the filing itself reflects the scale of consumer and industry frustration with prices that have risen approximately 700% since the shortage began.

The Real-World Impact on Gamers and Builders

The memory crisis has fed directly into the price of every consumer electronics product released since 2024. Gaming console price increases, gaming laptop cost escalation, and prebuilt PC pricing all trace directly to DRAM and NAND costs.

• Xbox Series X: Third price increase effective August 1, 2026, reaching $799.99; Microsoft explicitly cited memory and storage component costs rising by more than 2.5x as the direct cause
• Steam Machine: Valve confirmed its original price target was “no longer feasible” due to component costs, pushing the final price above $1,049
• Steam Deck OLED: Price rose 43% in May 2026, from $549 to $789, with Valve again citing the same component cost increases
• Gaming PCs and laptops: DDR5 kit prices remain elevated across all major retailers, with 32GB kits sitting at two to three times their 2023 prices

TrendForce confirmed Lenovo’s assessment aligns with its own supply chain forecasts, projecting that DRAM supply will not meaningfully exceed demand until at minimum 2028, and that even after balance is achieved, pricing will not revert to pre-2025 baselines due to permanently elevated production costs and sustained AI sector demand.

What This Means for Buyers Right Now

The practical implication of Lenovo’s statement is straightforward: if you have been delaying a PC build, a RAM upgrade, or a console purchase while waiting for prices to normalize, that strategy is no longer rational based on the best available industry intelligence. Prices may stabilize, but they will stabilize at a level higher than 2025, not lower.

Additionally, Lenovo’s forecast suggests that buyers who lock in hardware purchases in 2026 are likely buying at a point that will be more expensive in 2027 and 2028, not cheaper. That is not a guarantee, and market conditions can shift. However, it is the forward guidance being offered by the largest PC maker in the world based on its direct relationships across the supply chain.

Résultat final

Lenovo is not a neutral observer. As the world’s largest PC buyer, the company has a direct stake in memory pricing and a supply chain view that no analyst or journalist can match. When Lenovo says prices are “never” coming back, it is not predicting the future for the benefit of consumers. It is reporting what its supplier conversations and internal models are showing. For anyone making hardware decisions in 2026, that context matters more than any analyst price projection.