DRAM it! Cheap PCs being priced out of existence as memory cost bites

AI server gold rush leaves budget laptops starving for chips as sub-$500 machines down nearly a fifth stateside

Fewer Americans are buying PCs as rising component costs mean the sub-$500 bracket is rapidly disappearing, with laptop makers favoring higher-end machines – and things are likely to deteriorate throughout the year.According to stats compiled by Omdia, unit sales to US distributors plunged 7 percent year-on-year in Q1 to 15.8 million units. HP was hit hardest, shrinking by more than a fifth and losing its spot as the most purchased PC brand stateside.The decline reflects supply constraints and cost pressures from memory and storage prices, "compounded by a hangover following the Windows 11 refresh cycle," which the analyst said exhausted much of the near-term commercial pipeline. A strong comparison period from a year ago – when consumers and businesses pulled forward purchases to avoid Trump's tariffs – didn't help.

As Reg readers know, memory makers are diverting production capacity to chips used in higher-priced AI servers, which is squeezing supplies of DRAM and NAND for PCs and smartphones. Rising component costs are eroding vendor margins on entry-level devices, making them commercially unviable. Unit sales of sub-$500 PCs dropped 18.7 percent in Q1.