More from RAM price hikes: the latest on the global memory shortage
SanDisk has a new 8TB PS5 drive, which will cost you a mere $2,959.99 (thanks, RAM crisis!). But that might not be enough for every game.
ItWasRamirez:
And the worst part is that Call of Duty still won’t fit
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That’s according to Silicon Motion (SMI) vice president Nelson Duann, who told Tom’s Hardware the memory shortage is pushing PC makers to buy third-party SSDs, while saying suppliers expect it will get worse in 2027:
The controllers we sell to module makers are now largely ending up in SSDs that are shipped to PC OEMs. The reason is that OEMs cannot obtain enough NAND directly from memory manufacturers, so they are increasingly sourcing SSDs from module makers instead.
During an interview with The Game Business at Summer Game Fest, Xbox strategy chief Matthew Ball admitted to “underestimating” the RAM crisis, saying that demand for Xbox consoles “exceeds supply.” It’s pushing Xbox to re-evaluate its plans for its next-gen Helix console:
“We are working very hard to rethink everything that we can about Helix, which is a console we are committed to shipping, and we are very cognisant of the ways in which we need to change as a company to make sure it is affordable, to make sure that it’s flexible.”
As Bloomberg reports, SK Hynix chairman Chey Tae-won says the company will do “whatever it requires” to expand chip production, but that will take years. So, unfortunately for anyone trying to buy a Steam Deck or build a gaming PC right now, the RAM shortage probably isn’t ending anytime soon.
We already knew that the RAM crisis would affect pricing for Valve’s upcoming Steam Machine console, but several hundred dollar price hikes for the Steam Deck don’t give us much hope for affordability.
illusiveman:
Well, this doesn’t bode well for the Steam Machine.
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This 3.5-hour GamersNexus video makes me wonder. We knew tariffs, RAM prices, and oil prices were scaring buyers away, but it’s something different to watch a Cooler Master guy, standing in a warehouse full of unsold PC cases, dish for 30 minutes straight — or see how Thermal Grizzly’s thermal paste sales have cratered.
You know how only one company in the entire world makes the machine that makes the world’s most advanced chips — and only three companies control the world’s supply of RAM? Reuters reports that Big Tech is trying to buy Big RAM’s favor in exchange for some of those machines, among other “unprecedented” offers.
AYN is sending emails to consumers who ordered the Ultra version of its Odin 3 Android handheld letting them know it has cancelled the configuration with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage due to a supply shortage, as spotted by Android Authority. Refunds are being offered, or a discount on the 16GB/512GB Max configuration.
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After cutting the Mac Mini’s base model, Apple is now also nixing its 32GB and 64GB RAM options, along with the 256GB RAM version of the Mac Studio. RAM prices are likely to blame, not helped by AI-driven demand for the two small Macs: both computers currently have weeks-long shipping estimates from Apple’s online store.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said during an earnings call that the company expects “significantly higher memory costs” in the upcoming quarter. He added that Apple will “look at a range of options” to address the global shortage.
