Computer Ram Scrap Factory

IDC - Global Memory Shortage Crisis: Market Analysis and the ...

www.idc.com

The year 2026 is shaping up to be one in which technology becomes more expensive, driven by supply constraints rather than demand growth. ... Francisco Jeronimo is VP for Data and Analytics at IDC EMEA. Based in London, he leads the research that covers mobile devices, personal computing devices, emerging technologies and the circular economy trends across EMEA. The global smartphone market, particularly Android manufacturers, is facing a threat in 2026. The industry’s decade-long trend of democratizing specs by bringing flagship features to affordable smartphones is reversing. In the high end of the market, Apple and Samsung face pressure but are structurally hedged. Its cash reserves and long-term supply agreements allow it to secure memory supply 12-24 months in advance. On the other hand, new flagship models in 2026 will likely have no RAM upgrades, sticking to 12GB for Pro models rather than increasing to 16GB. This will result in higher prices, lower margins, or a potential downmix in the amount of RAM in new systems at the worst possible time for this to occur. As with smartphones, IDC is not changing its official PC forecast. Here again, we offer two potential scenarios for 2026.

Top Scrap Computer RAM Wholesalers for Reuse (2026)

electronics.alibaba.com

A global memory shortage is reshaping smartphone and PC markets for 2026. Rising DRAM and NAND costs threaten pricing, specs, and growth ... RAM Memory Shortage 2026 Guide: Price Trend and ... ... However, recent headlines warn of a severe RAM memory shortage looming in 2026, with supply constraints potentially lasting until 2027. What is ... ... By 2026, many recycling facilities will rely on robotics, computer vision, and AI to separate electronic components with greater accuracy. Electronic Scrap Recycling Market Size and Forecast Find verified suppliers of bulk DDR1–DDR4 scrap RAM for reuse or gold recovery. Compare EU, US, and Asia-based wholesalers, yields, and DDR5 refurb options. Refining: The massive increase in new RAM prices has made "reuse" more profitable than traditional gold recovery for many functional modules. Discountcomputerdepot Refurbished business-class systems are increasingly used as a hedge against high component costs, offering savings of up to 62%. Coherentmarketinsights · Market Forecast: The electronic scrap recycling market is projected to reach $37.56 billion in 2026, with a CAGR of 7.5% through 2033. Electronic Scrap Recycling Market is estimated to be valued at USD 37.56 Bn in 2026 and is expected to expand at CAGR of 7.5%, reaching USD 62.31 Bn by ... ... Data Centers Will Consume 70 Percent Of Memory Chips made in 2026, RAM ...

When Will RAM Prices Drop? Global Memory Market Outlook 2024–2026

www.bacloud.com

Buyers from cloud giants to gadget makers are competing for scraps, sending prices through the roof. This leads to the question: how long can this last? Industry experts and market researchers are now trying to gauge whether relief is in sight in the next year, or if the memory market will stay tight. Here is what major analysts and firms predict for RAM prices over the next 6–12 months: No Immediate Relief (H1 2026): Most forecasts suggest **prices will remain high (or even continue rising) well into 2026. Similarly, TrendForce, a market research firm specializing in memory, projects that shortages of legacy DDR4 will extend into H1 2026. During this period, continued strong demand from AI data centers is expected to keep upward pressure on newer server memory (DDR5, HBM) as well. In other words, don’t expect a meaningful drop in RAM prices in the next couple of quarters – if anything, contracts could get pricier before they stabilize. At present, cloud providers are “swiftly transitioning to high-performance computing platforms” to accommodate AI, and this is significantly boosting memory requirements per server. TrendForce projects global server shipments to rise ~4% annually, but memory bit demand is growing faster due to the increased memory per box. If AI adoption continues on its current exponential path, data center memory demand is likely to outstrip supply well into 2026. To summarize the range of expectations, the table below compiles several forecasts for RAM price trends and potential drops: As the table shows, the consensus is that RAM prices will remain elevated in the short term (6–12 months). Most experts do not foresee a meaningful drop before mid-2026 at the earliest.

2025–present global memory supply shortage - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

This shortage is sometimes labelled by tech media outlets as "RAMmageddon" or the "RAMpocalypse". Unlike the 2020–2023 global chip shortage, which stemmed primarily from pandemic-related supply chain disruptions from COVID-19, this shortage is driven by a structural reallocation of manufacturing capacity toward high-margin products for AI data center infrastructure, creating scarcity of computer memory in consumer and enterprise PC markets. According to a 2026 Kearney's PERLab analysis, the shortage is expected to last at least until 2030. Retrieved April 28, 2026. ... "RAM Shortage 2025: How AI Demand is Raising DRAM Prices". Intuition Labs. December 14, 2025. Retrieved December 16, 2025. ... "[News] Samsung Reportedly Expands 1c DRAM Capacity for HBM4, Targeting 60K Wafers Monthly in 2025". TrendForce. Despite the broad trend of rising hardware costs, some companies engaged in aggressive pricing strategies to maintain market share; for example, Sony reduced the price of the PlayStation 5 by $100 for Black Friday 2025, potentially absorbing increased component costs to stimulate software ecosystem growth. 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% of PC build materials up from 15-18% previous quarter. Despite showing strong Q1 2026 earning driven by Windows 11 upgrade cycle and AI PC adoption, HP warned investors of low operating margins and up to double digit percentage decline for coming quarter. Trendforce, an IT analytics company, updated its forecast from 1.7% year-over-year growth in PC market to 2.6% year-over-year decline for 2026, amid backdrop of steadily increasing prices and supply crisis. Research and analytics firms, Gartner and IDC expect worldwide PC market to decline 10-11% and smartphone market to decline 8-9% in 2026. Gartner also projects that rising memory prices will make low-margin entry level laptops under 500 USD financially unviable in two years. The RAM shortage has delayed the release of Valve's second Steam Machine due to increased memory prices.

IDC warns PC market could shrink up to 9% in 2026 due to skyrocketing ...

www.tomshardware.com

DRAM DRAM prices predicted to jump 63% in Q2, NAND up to 75% — follows 95% jumps in Q1, Trendforce says AI server demand keeps supply tight · CPUs 30% of x86 CPUs sold are now made by AMD, as company's market share grows thanks to a flagging Intel · Storage Phison CEO says NAND shortages can kill consumer electronics companies in 2026 IDC warns that OEMs are likely to respond with higher prices, reduced specs, or both, reversing a decade-long trend of bringing flagship-class memory configurations downmarket. As a result, IDC now sees downside risk of a global smartphone market contraction in 2026—potentially as steep as 5% in a pessimistic scenario—alongside an increase in average selling prices and longer replacement cycles. The International Data Corporation (IDC) has published a new update to its device market outlook, and the message is blunt: things are getting worse. Under newly-reported pessimistic scenarios, shipments of PCs could shrink by up to 9% in 2026, with a more moderate scenario showing a 5% shrinkage in the market. The only worse event happened a couple of years ago in the post-pandemic period due to market saturation, and the industry is still reeling from that near 15% drop. Moreover, it's happening when the market should be booming; normally, 2026 would be a major growth year due to the Windows 10 support cliff, as well as the AI PC wave.

PC shipments grew in Q1, but questions remain - Resource Recycling

resource-recycling.com

Two closely watched PC market reports released in April painted what looked like an encouraging picture for the device market, and by extension, the downstream ITAD and recycling channels that process those devices at end of life. Both Gartner and IDC reported year-over-year shipment growth in the first quarter of 2026. Three-to-five-year-old enterprise laptops with 16GB+ RAM and TPM 2.0 support — the fleet deployed roughly 2021 through 2023 — should see firmer resale pricing than 2024 trends suggested. Higher new-PC prices push buyers toward refurbished alternatives. Separating inventory into Win11-capable and Win11-incapable buckets, and pricing them differently, is urgent work for operators now. Freight assumptions need updating. Reverse logistics, downstream commodity movement, and cross-border refurb flows all face the same cost pressures hitting forward logistics. Operators should run 2026 scenarios with meaningfully higher freight assumptions than 2024–2025 baselines. David Daoud is a contributor to Resource Recycling and E-Scrap News, covering IT asset disposition, electronics recycling, and circular IT governance. He is the founder of and current Principal Analyst at Compliance Standards LLC, where he conducts independent research and advisory work on ITAD markets, sustainability and ESG compliance, data security, and lifecycle risk management. Daoud has analyzed enterprise IT trends since the late 1990s and was among the first analysts to examine ITAD as a distinct market segment during his time at IDC. Both are warning that the growth isn’t real, and the factors driving the Q1 numbers have significant implications for how retired PCs will flow into secondary and recycling markets over the next 18 to 24 months. Gartner reported worldwide PC shipments of 62.8 million units in Q1 2026, up 4% from the same quarter a year earlier.