After soaring 2,200%, DDR4 RAM prices finally fall but don't get too excited

Date:
Fri, 10 Apr 2026 14:56:46 +0000

Description:
We're seeing more positive signs that the RAM crisis is easing somewhat, but be careful not to raise your expectations too high.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Become a Member in Seconds Unlock instant access to exclusive member
features. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting
your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. You are now subscribed Your newsletter sign-up was successful Join the club Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards. Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter The spot price of a 16GB DDR4 chip has dropped by 5% It's the first time this price has fallen in over a year While that's obviously a good thing, there's
a lot of storm remaining to weather with the RAM crisis yet We've witnessed another hint that the RAM crisis is deescalating at least a touch along
with an interesting move by the Korean government to try to protect consumers from the worst excesses of PC component price hikes .

Tom's Hardware flagged up a DigiTimes report that claims the spot price of a 16GB DDR4 chip has fallen by around 5% over the course of the last month.
That may not sound like a whole lot, but it's notable because it's the first monthly drop that's happened with DDR4 pricing in just over a year. (Although recently, some of the rises have been tiny, with pricing effectively staying flat but we haven't seen a dip until now). Article continues below You may like RAM crisis shows signs of easing as DDR5 prices drop but there's a
catch TrendForce report sparks hope that we might be turning a corner in the RAM crisis Hold your horses it's still not time to buy RAM despite price drops

Still, don't get carried away with optimism here, because this has happened against a backdrop of a 2,200% increase in the cost of a 16GB DDR4 module
over the past year.

Tom's Hardware also noticed another development in Asia, with what could be an important move for Korean consumers with perhaps some hope that other countries might adopt similar policies.

Based on a report by The Korea Herald , the government is going to repurpose more of the PCs it took out of service last year, increasing the number of these computers which are reused and donated to various organizations. It'll also provide more PCs to vulnerable groups, we're told, and expand the scope of a subsidy scheme that provides money for low-income households buying computers for students.

All of that is designed to take some of the sting out of PCs getting a lot pricier, and there's something else which is more eye-opening, too. A further report from No Cut News talks about the Korean government's plans to "monitor the distribution and supply and demand conditions of the PC and laptop
markets to prevent unfair practices." Get daily insight, inspiration and
deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

That seemingly involves a few government bodies including the Ministry of Trade keeping a close watch on the PC market, as well as RAM sales, looking into what could be deemed as illegal activity. "Strict measures" are promised if those selling components or PCs are judged to be engaged in any opportunistic profiteering.

This should help to keep prices down somewhat, or that's the theory anyway, although bear in mind these aren't official announcements, but just reports
in the Korean media at this stage. Analysis: hopeful signs but let's temper any optimism (Image credit: Unsplash / Liam Briese) We've recently seen reports of DDR5 pricing falling across the globe , and markedly in China, where the price of 16GB modules of the cutting-edge RAM has dropped by up to 30% (in terms of sales on e-commerce platforms in the country). Seeing DDR4 also take a tumble is welcome, of course, even if it's not nearly to the same degree. What to read next DDR5 RAM hits painful new high and price-hike misery will likely continue RAM crisis gets worse as DDR5 hits a new high and worrying trend creeps in Analyst firm warns of 'unprecedented and record-breaking surge' in RAM cost

We can be hopeful for some prices drops for DDR4 at retail, then, although that wouldn't be a surprise, really, given the wallet-wrenching peaks in pricing that this RAM and DDR5 have reached. As I observed in my previous article about DDR5 prices receding, there's a point where prices get so high that a growing number of consumers simply refuse to pay them and when that filters through as a drop in demand, a price correction inevitable ensues.

There are other possible reasons for these falls, too, including theories
that OpenAI has hugely scaled back its RAM-eating ambitions, leaving AI
demand not quite as intense as it previously seemed. Furthermore, in that
same vein we have Google's TurboQuant . This tech aims to reduce the memory use of AI in a big way at least in certain respects although I think it's a bit of a red herring, and I've got a feature ready for publishing explaining why. (Look out for that imminently).

Any relief we're seeing now is definitely welcome, but don't make the mistake of believing that we're near some sort of full-on turning point with RAM pricing. Many analyst firms are betting heavily against that, and with good reasons, plus hardware makers are singing similar tunes . Don't underestimate the challenges the tech world is facing here.

Given the gravity of these pricing problems, might we expect governments elsewhere around the world to step in like Korea seemingly has? I very much doubt we'll see grand plans to monitor the fairness of the pricing of PCs or components, which is a seriously thorny area to even consider. However, schemes to provide low-income students or families with help buying a laptop or repurposing old PCs of the Windows 10 variety certainly seem like avenues to explore, or expand on, which have plenty of potential. The best laptops
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