Memory Costs Drive ASUS PC Price Hike

According to reports, ASUS notified customers on December 30 that it will adjust prices for selected products starting January 5, 2026, citing a sharp rise in the cost of several key components. The biggest pressure comes from memory-related parts, including DRAM, NAND flash, and SSDs, where price increases have been especially steep. With component costs climbing faster than expected, ASUS says it has little choice but to reflect part of that increase in its product pricing.

ASUS System Business Group General Manager Liao Yixiang explained that surging AI demand is reshaping the global supply chain. Changes in capacity allocation at chip makers, higher investment costs for advanced process nodes, and the continued growth in AI computing demand have together created structural supply gaps across the industry. To maintain stable supply and product quality, ASUS plans to carry out what it calls a strategic price adjustment across part of its product lineup from early January 2026.

Industry data shows that throughout 2025, prices for DRAM and NAND flash components rose rapidly, driven by tight supply and strong demand from server and data center applications. Spot prices for memory modules jumped significantly, especially in the last two quarters of the year. Even as demand from some downstream markets, such as consumer electronics, began to soften, contract prices remained firm, adding sustained cost pressure for device makers.

In December 2025, the spot price of DDR5 16Gb chips increased by about 16% month on month, following an even sharper 50% surge in November, with average prices reaching around USD 28 per chip. DDR4 prices continued to climb as well: DDR4 16Gb and 8Gb chips rose to roughly USD 62 and above USD 23 respectively in December, both up about 46% compared with November. While the December increases were smaller than the 50–60% spikes seen a month earlier, they still underline the ongoing upward trend in DDR4 memory pricing.