Framework announced on 9 March that DDR5 memory pricing now ranges from $13 to $18 per GB, up from the $12 to $16 range listed in February. This marks another pricing update affecting DDR5 memory, some SSD capacities, Framework Desktop, and select pre-built Framework Laptop 16 configurations.
The modular laptop manufacturer's repeated price hikes illuminate a broader crisis reshaping the consumer technology market. The latest increase comes from both higher supplier costs and the depletion of older lower-cost inventory. What Framework faces is not a temporary shortage but a structural reallocation of global semiconductor capacity toward artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure and workloads is exerting significant pressure on the memory ecosystem, with the shortage driven by a reallocation of manufacturing capacity away from consumer electronics toward high-margin memory solutions to support AI, as major memory makers have shifted production toward memory used in AI data centres such as high-bandwidth (HBM) and high-capacity DDR5.
The dynamics are unforgiving for everyday consumers and small manufacturers. Technology companies including Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms placed open-ended orders with memory suppliers, indicating they would accept as much supply as available regardless of cost. These orders absorb supply before it reaches retail channels. PC DRAM prices in Q1 2026 are projected to increase by over 100 per cent quarter on quarter, setting a new record.
Storage prices are following the same trajectory. TrendForce projects NAND flash prices to increase 33-38 per cent quarter-over-quarter in Q1 2026, with consumer SSD prices having doubled in some cases since late 2025, with 1TB consumer SSDs jumping from approximately $45 to nearly $90.
Framework's response has been to absorb what costs it can whilst passing others to customers. The company uses a weighted average cost model, with some models including 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB Western Digital SN850X drives still priced below market while that inventory lasts. The company has encouraged buyers to source cheaper memory elsewhere where available.
There is a legitimate counterargument here: Framework's transparency stands in contrast to competitors' opacity. The company has not hidden the crisis from consumers but instead published monthly updates explaining cost pressures. Some competitors have simply raised prices without explanation.
Yet the underlying problem cannot be solved by transparency alone. New capacity additions will not meaningfully relieve pressure until late 2026 at the earliest, with the 12-18-month timeline for new fabrication facilities meaning that decisions made by memory manufacturers in 2024 and early 2025 determine available supply through mid-2026, and capacity expansion announcements made today will not result in increased output until 2027 or 2028.
The implications ripple across the industry. Due to memory prices more than doubling in a single quarter, HP revealed in its Q1 2026 earnings call that memory costs account for 35 per cent of PC build materials up from 15-18 per cent previous quarter. Research and analytics firms Gartner and IDC expect worldwide PC market to decline 10-11 per cent and Gartner also projects that rising memory prices will make low-margin entry level laptops under 500 USD financially unviable in two years.
Framework's situation reflects a fundamental tension in modern technology markets. Manufacturers prioritise capital investment where the returns are highest. AI data centre memory generates superior margins. The economics make sense from a shareholder perspective. But the consequence is that ordinary consumers and mid-market producers face sustained price inflation or simply cannot obtain components at any price.
A second consideration deserves weight: whether this represents genuine supply constraint or a coordinated effort to maintain elevated margins. Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Kioxia, and Micron jointly scaled back NAND flash production in the second half of 2025, with the move part of a coordinated push to lift NAND prices that have hovered near cost since last year. The line between managing legitimate supply pressures and deliberately restricting supply to support pricing is difficult to discern from public data alone.
For consumers, the practical message is grim. Consumers should not expect prices of various tech products to return to normal till late 2027 or even 2028, with memory shortages across all products including DDR5 and DDR4 memory lasting till at least Q4 2027. Framework's April update will likely confirm the pattern continues.