The worst of the memory crisis may still be ahead. That is the warning from Team Group, the Taiwanese RAM module maker, which during its November 2 earnings call pointed to the period between Q4 2026 and the end of Q2 2027 as the moment of peak pressure on demand. That is only a few months away.
The reason is straightforward. Major memory makers, including SK hynix, Samsung and Micron, have already sold out their 2027 supply and signed long-term agreements with customers. For anyone outside those contracts, sourcing chips is becoming harder. Team Group says that even with funds available, buying memory products may soon be impossible. Purchases are still possible today, but at high prices; soon, the company warns, they may no longer be an option.
Image: bestbuy.com — https://www.bestbuy.com/product/team-group-team-elite-32gb-sdram-memory-module-for-notebook-desktop-pc-32-gb-1-x-32gb-ddr4-3200-pc4-25600-ddr4-sdram-black/J37P83QTWL
The Chinese suppliers are not enough to close the gap. CXMT and YMTC together hold about 10% of the market but cannot meet demand. According to Team Group, a balance between supply and demand may not emerge until the second half of 2028, or later.
Prices follow the same path. Team Group expects increases between October and March, with some models potentially rising 30-40% in a single quarter. The pressure falls hardest on business buyers: the company sells 64.6% of its modules to businesses (B2B) and 35.4% directly to consumers (B2C), a sharp reversal from the third quarter of 2025.
Image: techporn.ph — https://www.techporn.ph/teamgroup-24-48-gb-industrial-ddr5-memory/
The effects are already visible in the PC market. According to Counterpoint Research, global PC shipments will fall 27% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2026, four points more than the third-quarter decline. Higher component costs, memory included, have pushed up PC prices and constrained demand. The average fixed price of standard PC DRAM also hit an all-time high of $27.50 last month, roughly four times October 2025's $7, according to DRAMeXchange.
Buyers of memory today face high prices and uncertain availability through 2027, with improvement possible only in 2028. As AlexTech has already reported, Samsung has already secured much of its 2027 output, and the same pattern is now showing up among module makers.
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