The cost of lots of the devices we all use could be forced up in 2026 because the price of Ram - once one of the cheapest computer components - has more than doubled since October 2025.

The tech powers everything from smartphones to smart TVs, as well as things like medical devices.

Its price has shot up because of the explosive growth in the data centres which power AI, which need Ram too.

That's caused an imbalance between supply and demand which means everyone has to pay more.

Manufacturers often choose to swallow small cost increases, but big ones tend to get passed on to consumers.

And these increases are anything but small.

"We are being quoted costs around 500% higher than they were only a couple of months ago," said Steve Mason, general manager of CyberPowerPC, which builds computers.

He said there "will come a point" where these increased component costs will "force" manufacturers to "make decisions about pricing".

"If it uses memory, or storage, there is the potential for price increases," he said.

"The manufacturers will have choices to make, as will consumers."

Ram - or random access memory - is used to store code while you use a device. It is a critical component of almost every kind of computer.

Without it would be impossible for you to read this article, for example.

And with the component being so ubiquitous, Danny Williams from rival computer building site PCSpecialist said he expected price increases to continue "well into 2026".

"The market has been very buoyant in 2025 and if memory prices do not fall back a little I would expect a reduction in consumer demand in 2026," he said.

He said he'd seen "a varied impact" across different Ram producers.

"Some vendors have larger inventories and therefore their price increases are more subtle at perhaps 1.5x to 2x," he said.

But he said other firms did not have a large amount of stock - and they had increased prices by "up to 5x" more.

AI making prices rise

Chris Miller, author of Chip War, called AI "the main factor" driving demand for computer memory.

"There's been a surge of demand for memory chips, driven above all by the high-end High Bandwidth Memory that AI requires," he said.

"This has led to higher prices across different types of memory chips."

He said prices "often fluctuate dramatically" based on "demand and supply" - and demand is significantly up right now.

And Mike Howard from Tech Insights told the BBC it came down to cloud service providers finalising their memory requirements for 2026 and 2027.

He said that gave the people who make Ram a clear picture of demand - and it was "unmistakeable" that supply "will not meet the levels that Amazon, Google, and other hyperscalers are planning for".

"With both demand clarity and supply constraints converging, suppliers have steadily pushed prices upward, in some cases aggressively," he said.

"Some suppliers have even paused issuing price quotes, a rare move that signals confidence that future prices will rise further."

He said some manufacturers will have seen this coming and built up their inventory ahead of time to help mitigate the price rises - but called those firms "outliers".

"In PCs, memory typically accounts for 15 to 20 percent of total cost, but current pricing has pushed that toward 30 to 40 percent," he said.

"Margins in most consumer categories are not deep enough to absorb these increases."

The bottom line for 2026

With prices trending upwards, customers will likely be left deciding whether to pay more or accept a less powerful device.

"Most of the market intelligence we have received would suggest pricing and supply will be a challenge worldwide throughout 2026 into 2027," Mr Mason said.

And some big firms have turned their nose up at the consumer market altogether.

Micron, previously one of the biggest sellers of Ram, announced in December it would stop selling its Crucial brand to focus on AI demand.

"It removes one of the biggest players from the market," Mr Mason said.

"On the one hand, that's less choice for consumers - on the other hand, if their entire production ploughs into AI, it should free up capacity for the others to make more for consumers, so it may balance out."

Mr Howard said a typical laptop, with 16GB of Ram, could see its manufacturing cost increase by $40 to $50 (£30 to £37) in 2026 - and this "will likely be passed on to consumers".

"Smartphones will also see upwards pressure on their prices," he said.

"A typical smartphone could see its cost to build increase $30 which, again, will likely get passed on directly to consumer."

And Mr Williams said there might be another outcome of increased prices too.

"Computers are a commodity - an everyday item that people need in a modern day world," he said.

"With the increase in memory prices, consumers will need to decide to either pay a higher price for the performance they need, or accept a compromise in a lower performing device."

There is, of course, another option, says Mr Williams - consumers might have to "make do with old tech for a little longer." (BBC)