{"id":81812,"date":"2026-02-09T03:21:55","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T06:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/890628365"},"modified":"2026-02-09T03:21:55","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T06:21:55","slug":"ramifications-students-faculty-face-tech-price-hikes-amid-ai-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/ramifications-students-faculty-face-tech-price-hikes-amid-ai-boom\/","title":{"rendered":"RAMifications: Students, faculty face tech price hikes amid AI boom"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shortages in the computer parts industry are driving up the price of technology across the board, causing a chain reaction of effects that will impact tech procurement for UA students and faculty alike.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rapid growth of AI companies has drained the supply of necessary components like DRAM and solid-state storage, which can be found in everything from smartphones to cars to data centers to factory machinery.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most noticeable market squeeze is in the DRAM industry. DRAM is computer memory, a component that allows computers to temporarily store information retrieved from storage, hard drives or solid-state drives. It\u2019s created in sheets called wafers in factories called fabs that cost tens of billions to create, <\/span>double that<\/span><\/a> if they\u2019re built in the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three companies \u2014 Samsung, SK hynix and Micron \u2014 control 95% of DRAM production, and the latter has completely discontinued its consumer-grade memory to supply AI data centers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEvery wafer allocated to an AI data center is effectively a wafer denied to a consumer laptop or smartphone,\u201d said Byung-Choel Kim, a professor of economics at the University who specializes in industrial supply chain research. \u201cOpenAI\u2019s Stargate project alone reportedly requires 900,000 wafers per month \u2014 roughly 40% of global DRAM output.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike the global tech shortages during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kim said that the ongoing RAM shortage is endogenous \u2014 not the fault of outside forces and instead the product of a concentrated market dynamic. RAM prices used to be so low that all other manufacturers, including massive companies like IBM, Texas Instruments and Intel, couldn\u2019t justify the immense cost and left the market. The three extant manufacturers purposefully <\/span>scaled back production<\/span><\/a> after the pandemic to raise prices, securing safer profits but leaving them unprepared for a sudden spike in demand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim said that the increased demand and low supply leave consumer product manufacturers with a choice: \u201craise sticker prices or cut specifications.\u201d Some companies are cutting down on the DRAM included in their products while others, such as pre-built PC providers, are selling models without DRAM and asking purchasers to source their own. These price increases are impacting everyday tech used across the University.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUniversities are large purchasers of IT equipment,\u201d Kim said. \u201cComputer labs, research servers, and classroom technology all face the same cost pressures.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Pierce, director of strategic engagement at University Libraries, said that he was not aware of any changes happening within the University Libraries system in response to technology pricing. He said that <\/span>University Libraries<\/span><\/a> has been removing some computers and replacing them with display docks, a response to the increased prevalence of personal devices among students.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Culverhouse\u2019s Technology Group did not respond to requests for comment, students are beginning to see the effects in their own personal electronics purchases. <\/span>Market surveys<\/span><\/a> indicate that average RAM prices have more than tripled in the past year..<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad I built my computer when I did and that I actually decided to go for higher end specs for once because I\u2019m gonna need this computer to last me,\u201d said Matthew Siegmund, a second-year Doctor of Musical Arts student who built his own gaming computer. \u201cEspecially as a grad student, I don\u2019t have the money to just spend a grand on RAM.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

PC gaming enthusiasts like Siegmund have been among the hardest hit by the market for PC components. To keep up with the technical demands of modern games, PC owners have to purchase parts that come with higher specs, often at eyewatering costs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sixteen gigabytes of memory, considered the bare minimum for PC gaming in 2026, can cost upward of $700 in the highest performing DDR5 models. Many gamers have had to settle for discontinued DDR4 or decades-old DDR3 memory, causing the popularity of <\/span>long-outdated motherboards<\/span><\/a> to soar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those that want to buy cheaper hardware may fare even worse. Kim said that companies that make budget devices may be forced out of business by the rising price of components.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people don\u2019t think about how much RAM is needed for everything, especially with the car industry and all of them needing glorified tablets plastered onto their dashboards,\u201d Siegmund said. \u201cThey don\u2019t realize how much RAM that takes, how much their phone takes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Kim said he expects prices to peak later this year, but they may not settle down until 2027 at the earliest. To students, he said that buying now may be the best move, even if stockpiling is a driving factor in the current price.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe shortage is regressive: It hits price-sensitive consumers hardest,\u201d Kim said.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

… effects that will impact tech<\/span> procurement for UA students … output.\u00e2\u0080\u009d Unlike the global tech<\/span> shortages during the COVID-19 … price increases are impacting everyday tech<\/span> used across the University. … Libraries system in response to technology<\/span> pricing. He said that …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81812\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}