Overview
- Acer Chairman Jason Chen warned that PC average selling prices will keep rising into late 2026, that Q4 2026 could see a 5–20% increase, and that prices are likely to peak around mid‑2027 before easing.
- Chen told reporters that DDR4 and DDR5 availability has broadly improved and that CPU supply is generally stable while a few high‑end memory types and niche chips remain tight.
- Independent market trackers show conventional DRAM and NAND contract prices rising through 2026, which keeps short‑term cost pressure on PC makers and delays any consumer price relief.
- Industry analysts say strong demand from AI hyperscalers for high‑bandwidth memory and HBM has shifted production away from consumer DRAM and NAND and driven much of the recent price surge.
- The outlook is contested because planned Chinese fabs from firms like CXMT and YMTC could add capacity and lower prices by H2 2027 but those buildouts face long lead times and the timeline depends on whether AI demand eases.