- Dell and Lenovo are expected to increase pricing for PC hardware
- The purported price hikes are a result of increased demand for memory
- These changes are slated for mid-December and early 2026
With the AI boom sparking a trend of significant price hikes on memory (specifically RAM kits) and, eventually, SSDs, there are plenty of reasons for PC users and gamers to be concerned – and two major brands are the latest to be impacted.
As reported by TrendForce, Dell and Lenovo will reportedly deliver price hikes on PC hardware; it’s stated to be a 15 to 20% increase from mid-December for Dell, and unknown increase from early 2026 for Lenovo. This is a result of increased demand for memory for AI servers and issues with supply chains globally, which has ultimately led to increased DRAM (and VRAM) pricing.
We’re already seeing similar signs on both Nvidia’s and AMD’s end; both are reportedly considering discontinuing budget graphics cards due to rising VRAM costs, and other rumors suggest Team Red is gearing up to increase its Radeon GPU prices.
Dell and Lenovo are responsible for a wide variety of pre-built desktop gaming PCs and laptops, while the latter has multiple handheld gaming PCs on the market. While the purported 15 to 20% price hike estimate is specific to Dell, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a very similar increase for Lenovo’s products.
Considering how expensive RAM kits are, with some costing almost $1,000, it’s not looking very good for PC (and even console) hardware at this stage, leading into 2026.
Analysis: If you thought handhelds were too expensive, it’s only going to get worse
I have been very critical of manufacturers and brands setting obscene prices for handheld gaming PCs, notably Microsoft and Lenovo for the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X and Legion Go 2, respectively. If you share the same sentiment, I’m afraid that matters are only going to get worse.
While SSD price hikes haven’t been ushered in just yet, they’re expected to eventually rise at a similar rate to RAM price increases, which have already spiralled out of control.
Fortunately, I haven’t yet spotted a major impact for RAM on pre-built PCs or handhelds’ prices yet, but I worry that the recommendation to push for 32GB of RAM for gaming is where consumers may find issues.
When you combine both SSD and RAM price hikes, it’s a duo that could lead to dark times for PC consumers. This goes for upcoming and current handhelds, as well as Valve’s Steam Machine, which many gamers are already disregarding due to suggestions of an entry-level gaming PC price, and this will only worsen with RAM complications.
At this point, the only hope to reverse these price hikes will be a pop to the current AI bubble, which is seemingly impacting every region of technology. Will that happen though? At this stage, I don’t think so.
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