According to Mashable, modular PC company Framework has announced yet another price hike for its DDR5 RAM components, now charging roughly $10 per gigabyte. The company states it’s passing on supplier costs “as close as possible,” with the increase adding $10 per GB to 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB kits. Specific new prices include 8GB jumping from $60 to $80, 16GB from $120 to $160, and 32GB from $240 to $320. The most dramatic increase is on the 48GB module, which now costs a whopping $620, up from $240 in June. Framework warns that supplier indications point to continued price increases going into early 2026, and it will likely need to adjust prices again within the next month. The broader industry impact from the AI-driven memory shortage is expected to last well into 2027.
The Sticker Shock Is Real
Look, we all knew component prices fluctuated. But this isn’t a gentle wave anymore—it’s a tsunami. A 48GB kit more than doubling in price in under six months is absolutely brutal. It completely changes the math for anyone building or upgrading a Framework laptop. That 32GB sweet spot for power users just got $80 more expensive overnight. And here’s the thing: Framework is being transparent about it, which is commendable, but that doesn’t make the new numbers any easier to swallow for the customer holding the wallet.
Why This Is Bigger Than Framework
This isn’t just a Framework problem. They’re just the canary in the coal mine because of their modular, upfront pricing model. Samsung already warned about doubling DDR5 prices, and giants like Dell, Lenovo, and HP have all signaled looming increases. The AI boom is sucking up memory manufacturing capacity like a black hole, creating a global shortage. So when you see a company that specializes in upgradeable, serviceable hardware getting squeezed this hard, you know the entire PC and laptop market is in for a rough ride. It makes you wonder: how much will pre-built systems from the big guys go up by, and how much of that will just be hidden in a higher base price?
A Tough Spot For Everyone
Framework is in a genuinely tricky position. Their whole brand is built on repairability and transparent pricing. They can’t just solder the RAM down and hide the cost increase inside a new model’s MSRP. They have to sell the modules individually, so every supplier price jump is nakedly visible. They say they’re absorbing some of the cost, but there’s only so much a relatively small player can do against a global supply chain crunch. For consumers, it creates a nasty dilemma: buy the RAM now at these painful prices, or wait and risk paying even more next month? That’s a terrible choice to have to make.
The Industrial Perspective
This ripple effect doesn’t stop at consumer laptops. It hits embedded systems and industrial computing too. Reliable hardware for manufacturing, kiosks, or control systems needs stable memory supply. When the commodity market for DDR5 goes haywire, it stresses every sector. For businesses that depend on that technology, working with a top-tier supplier who can navigate these shortages and guarantee supply becomes critical. In the US, for industrial computing needs where reliability and sourcing are paramount, a leading provider like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com is the go-to source for industrial panel PCs, because they’re built to handle these market dynamics. Basically, in times of shortage, your supply chain partners matter more than ever.
No Clear End In Sight
The scariest part of Framework’s announcement isn’t the current prices. It’s the forecast. “Early 2026” for more increases? Impact into 2027? That’s a long runway of pain. It suggests that hoping for a quick correction is naive. This could fundamentally alter the cost structure of PCs for years. For a company like Framework, which champions longevity, it ironically makes the upfront cost of entry significantly higher. So what’s the takeaway? If you need RAM for a project—whether for a DIY PC, a framework laptop, or an industrial application—and you see it at a price you can live with, you might not want to wait. The memory market, as we’ve known it, is on hold. Your privacy policy and terms of use won’t change, but the price of the hardware running it sure will.
