HP has posted its most recent quarterly results and has confirmed that the cost of RAM is high up on the list of components that make up the most expensive parts of its PC manufacturing process. This shines yet another spotlight on the growing cost of memory products across the industry, not just for consumers, but for manufacturers as well.
The increased RAM prices are but one part of the overall issue with consumer electronics at the moment. Although it’s fast becoming the most costly component, the shortage has impacted SSDs, GPUs, and now even HDDs. These higher prices are trickling down to the consumer, and it’s an issue that isn’t likely to go away anytime soon. Some predict that it could last for years. It’s also a big part of Sony’s rumored delay of the PS6 launch, which could now be pushed out to as late as 2030.
HP says RAM is now making up about 35% of its PC bill of materials
To put things into perspective on just how expensive RAM has become across the board, HP says it’s now making up about 35% of its PC bill of materials for the year. This is more than one-third of its component cost when building PCs. HP adds that RAM used to be about 15% to 18% of that cost, so it has essentially doubled. HP isn’t the only manufacturer paying higher prices for RAM. Apple recently reported paying double for Samsung memory, so it had enough for its upcoming iPhone.
HP doesn’t mention the exact amount it pays per unit of memory when purchasing the materials to build its computers. That being said, 35% of its overall cost is no small sum. Increased RAM and storage prices are now an unfortunate reality that consumers will have to deal with, as prices continue to rise even on older products.
Samsung’s 2TB 990 Pro SSD with a heatsink is a good example of this. An SSD that was once less than $200 is now $429.99 at most retailers. The 8TB 9100 Pro without a heatsink is now $1,699.99. When it launched, it was under $1,000. RAM is even worse. Some RAM kits are up to the amount of an RTX 5080 GPU.
The post RAM is becoming HP’s most costly manufacturing component appeared first on Android Headlines.
​Â
