AI competition for capacity drives memory chip prices up, reaching consumers

On November 1, 2026, an article published by Economic Daily reported that the scramble for memory chip capacity driven by AI is pushing up consumer electronics prices. New laptops have become more expensive, and flagship smartphones from manufacturers have also seen price increases. The article said Apple had been forced to raise prices on multiple products due to chip shortages, with Lenovo and Dell following suit. On the supply side, production capacity is being expanded with fresh funding: SK Hynix raised $26.5 billion through an ADS offering, making it the largest IPO in the United States by a foreign company, while Samsung Electronics reported a 18-fold surge in quarterly operating profit. The piece also explained the roles of three memory categories: DRAM serves as the working surface that handles data temporarily, NAND flash provides long-term storage for photos and documents on phones and computers, and HBM is a heavily enhanced version of DRAM built from multiple DRAM chips stacked vertically. The article left open why expanding supply has not closed the demand gap, a question that remains to be watched.