SEOUL — Memory chip prices climbed sharply as manufacturers shifted production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory for artificial intelligence servers, squeezing supply for consumer PCs and smartphones, market researcher TrendForce reported on Monday.

DRAM contract prices rose by double-digit percentages in the third quarter, according to TrendForce. The three dominant suppliers—Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology—have reallocated wafer capacity to HBM chips, which command far higher margins from customers such as Nvidia.

The shift has left conventional DDR5 memory in tight supply, driving up costs for PC builders and hardware retailers. Component vendors have warned that laptop and desktop prices are likely to rise, echoing consumer complaints over sharply higher retail RAM prices this month.

Analysts at Counterpoint Research and TrendForce said the imbalance was unlikely to ease before 2027, as new fabrication capacity takes time to come online. SK Hynix and Samsung have both said HBM output remains sold out for the year, leaving little slack for standard memory production.

The pricing pressure underscores how the AI infrastructure boom is reshaping the broader electronics supply chain, with data centre demand increasingly dictating what remains available to ordinary consumers.