AI data center demand is fueling a multi-year chip shortage, pushing up component costs and retail device prices.

Revenue quadrupled to $41.45 billion compared with the same period a year ago. The company's profit, meanwhile, rose from $1.88 billion to an incredible $28.2 billion year-over-year.

South Korean chip startup XCENA is betting that AI's real bottleneck is not compute, but memory.

Today, Bloomberg's Tech In Depth newsletter covers a thorny subject: should Nintendo raise the Switch 2 pricing in response to the current economic environment and the ongoing memory shortage? Sony did, across its entire PlayStation ecosystem (PS5, PS5 Slim, PS5 Pro, and PlayStation Portal). Nintendo, on the other hand, has maintained steadfast so far, but Bloomberg points out that investors aren't quite happy with this strategy. The company's stock has been on a steady decline for five consecutive months, marking the longest sustained decline in Nintendo's stock since 2016. This is despite the Nintendo Switch 2 continuing to sell extremely […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/nintendo-stock-longest-losing-streak-2016-investors-switch-2-price-hike/

Asha Sharma has been extremely active since she officially replaced the now-retired Phil Spencer at Xbox in late February. One of her earliest moves was discontinuing the "This Is an Xbox" marketing campaign, which had been widely mocked by fans. More significantly, she formally dismantled the Microsoft Gaming identity in favor of a unified Xbox-first structure, with Microsoft plastering the "Return of Xbox" slogan on its office walls. On April 21, Sharma announced a cut to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's monthly price from $29.99 to $22.99, while PC Game Pass dropped from $16.49 to $13.99. Simultaneously, new Call of Duty […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/xbox-asha-sharma-memory-crisis-project-helix-price/

The memory industry saw a rollercoaster ride in the past few weeks following the debut of Google's TurboQuant, but the idea of shortages being over is seen as a "misinterpretation", to say the least. Google's TurboQuant Isn't Slowing Down the Memory Supercycle At All; the Demand Will Stay For Several Quarters With DDR prices coming down over the past few days, we did discuss the role of Google's TurboQuant algorithm; however, tying it to the end of memory shortages was a mere misperception, according to The Financial Times' latest report. Following the blog post about TurboQuant, we saw a huge […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/googles-turboquant-made-everyone-panic-about-memory-demand/

While memory shortages have been a problem for almost everyone, Samsung and other businesses have started to see revenue figures that would've never been anticipated a few years ago. Samsung's DRAM Business Alone Has Managed To Achieve $37 Billion In Q1, And The Growth Won't Stop Here DRAM has become a commodity in the AI industry, in high demand, and suppliers like Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron are unable to meet customer requirements, driving a wider shortage across the supply chain. With that, a report by Counterpoint Research has talked about Samsung's Q1 financial results, but the interesting parallel drawn […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/samsung-memory-business-alone-is-now-more-profitable-than-amazon-meta-and-microsoft/

The PC industry is entering a 'tough period', as IDC warns that the upcoming quarters could be very difficult for both vendors and customers, due to the current market conditions. PC Shipments Did See a Modest Growth In Q1, Driven By Buyer Interest to Get Protection From the Upcoming Price Hikes The consumer market has been difficult to navigate for the past few months, as shortages of key components like CPUs, GPUs, memory, and SSDs have prompted retailers to hike prices, giving the impression that the shortages have been factored in. However, OEMs have now held off on price hikes […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/the-real-test-for-pc-buyers-starts-this-quarter/

While many of us rejoice when gamers get multiple RAM sticks despite ordering a single unit, this has been a nightmare for Amazon retailers, who, interestingly, cannot avoid it. Retailers Are 'Tired' By The Negligence of Amazon's Warehouse Staff, Saying That They Are Dispatching Entire Boxes of Components We have noticed a rather interesting trend among those in the PCMR: those who find it very appealing when Amazon screws up someone's package, ultimately benefiting them. We have reported numerous incidents where a particular buyer orders a unit of a PC component, prominently RAM or SSD, and in return, they manage […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/ever-wondered-why-pc-buyers-are-getting-lucky-with-their-amazon-packages-recently-its-a-fiasco-that-has-annoyed-retailers/

Dell's CEO, Michael Dell, has discussed his estimates of the AI memory supercycle at a recent event, claiming that the explosive demand will persist for several years. If Hyperscalers Do Not Spend Money on Memory, There's a Fear Within Them of Getting Behind the Competition We have been tracking the memory supply chain for quite some time now, noting that the supply-demand gap has widened in the past few quarters; however, questions remain about how long we will see such conditions in the memory industry. Following the recent TurboQuant fiasco and the wider selloff within memory companies, there was a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/dell-ceo-says-ai-memory-demand-will-explode-to-unimaginable-levels-by-2028/

Amid cries of a decline in the memory industry, supply chain reports suggest that hyperscalers are locking into long-term contracts with suppliers to secure a consistent supply. Hyperscalers Are Willing To 'Risk It All' to Secure DRAM Supply, Even Entering Into Contracts That Could Backfire The memory markets entered an interesting phase over the past few weeks, as 'widespread' panic among retailers and some elements of the supply chain led them to believe that the release of Google's TurboQuant compression algorithm would end the supercycle. This resulted not just in a wider selloff in memory stock capitalization, but also, at […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/ai-giants-are-entering-into-years-long-memory-contracts-proving-to-be-the-best-case-scenario-for-suppliers/

PC manufacturers have started exploring workarounds amid ongoing shortages, and one method is likely to target gamers with more money. The PC Industry Would See a Significant Decline In Budget-Friendly Devices Ahead, Courtesy of Shortages The PC industry has undergone significant changes in the past few months, primarily driven by shortages all across the supply chain. And when we say changes, we mean rising prices across retail markets and BoM for manufacturers, which means that, to prevent gross margins, certain steps must be taken. And, according to a recent Omdia report, the broader PC industry is now gearing up to […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/pc-makers-have-apparently-cracked-the-code-on-supply-shortages/

The rising cost of memory has started to bite into the CapEx of major hyperscalers and their infrastructure buildouts, but NVIDIA enjoys an exclusive position in the supply chain. DRAM Contract Prices Have Increased Significantly In the Past Few Quarters, But This Doesn't Bother NVIDIA For Now DRAM shortages have disrupted broader supply chains, affecting segments like AI and consumer markets, but, interestingly, for hyperscalers, there are few options other than buying DRAM at outrageous prices, either on spot or contract terms. Based on information from SemiAnalysis and supply chain reports, memory prices have started to influence hyperscaler investments to […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/hyperscalers-are-scratching-their-heads-with-rising-memory-costs/

The memory market has seen a dramatic turn in the past few days, with RAM prices in mainland China now dropping aggressively. DDR5 Pricing Sees a Steady Decline in the Global Market, But It's Not a Sign of the Shortages Ending At All Well, reporting on the memory industry has suddenly become interesting, considering that in the past few months we've been consistently talking about DRAM prices climbing and how, suddenly, major PC parts have started to witness shortages. However, with the release of Google's TurboQuant, the memory industry saw a domino effect, with major suppliers like SK hynix, Samsung, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/ddr5-prices-in-china-face-a-complete-collapse-as-memory-markets-from-shift-from-desperate-scarcity-to-sudden-uncertainty/

DDR5 memory prices have been rising for several months, but our tracking shows a widespread drop this week. DDR5 Memory Prices Have Seen a Significant Drop, Up To $100 Per Kit, But the Discounts Are Limited to a Few Vendors The memory industry is experiencing a 'rollercoaster ride' lately, following the unveiling of Google's TurboQuant compression algorithm, which we'll discuss in a bit. One of the more intriguing signs right now is that DDR5 memory pricing is dropping significantly across multiple US retailers. We have been consistently tracking DDR5 prices for a while now to provide our viewers with memory […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/ddr5-prices-just-posted-their-first-drop-in-several-months/

ARM's CEO appears confident in the company's entry into the server CPU segment, claiming that the AGI CPU is designed to counter x86's dominance in the industry. ARM CEO Says Their Newest AGI CPU Won't "Piss Off" Partners Like NVIDIA, But Will Be Troublesome For Intel/AMD ARM made a rather unusual announcement at its recent keynote, where CEO Rene Haas announced a transition from a mere IP company to a compute provider and unveiled its first-ever server CPU, the AGI CPU. ARM's decision has been met with skepticism, but Haas's revenue projections have made everyone happy, since the AGI CPU […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/arms-ceo-says-the-agi-cpu-will-bite-into-the-x86-dominance/

The cost of building or buying a PC is set to skyrocket in the coming months, as Asus joins MSI in becoming another major manufacturer to signal incoming price increases. Yi-Hsiang Liao, GM of the Asus Joint Technology Systems Division, confirmed during a recent Zenbook A16 launch event that the company plans to raise prices by up to 30% across its PC lineup starting next quarter. 

As reported by UDN (via Wccftech), the primary driver behind this adjustment is the volatile memory market. Liao provided an example of current inflation, noting that a standard 32GB memory module that cost approximately 3,000 NTD last year is now approaching 20,000 NTD. This is further compounded by a shortage of CPUs from both Intel and AMD, with vendors reportedly struggling to secure enough mainstream and entry-level chips.

The price hike mentioned by Asus's GM is only for the Taiwanese market. However, while Asus has not officially confirmed if these specific price points will translate directly to overseas markets, it is highly unlikely that Western regions will remain insulated, as component costs are rising globally.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru says: Consumers are going to have to wrestle with an AI tax on components over the next year and possibly beyond. Eventually, new production lines will be built to satiate the consumer electronics segment, but this is not a quick or easy process, as it can take years to set up suitable chip fabrication facilities. 

The post Asus warns of PC price hikes due to memory shortages first appeared on KitGuru.

ARM made a massive announcement at its ARM Everywhere keynote: according to a new blog post, the firm will sell its own 'AGI CPU' for the first time. ARM's Pivot to Direct Silicon Sales Ends NVIDIA's Dominance Over High-End Server Core IP With agentic AI workloads, CPU has started to become the next bottleneck for hyperscalers, which is why we have seen x86 solutions from Intel/AMD and ARM-based chips from NVIDIA gaining massive adoption among customers. In light of this, ARM has decided to capitalize on the hype by introducing its first-ever chip, called the ARM AGI CPU, marking a […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/arm-takes-the-ai-cpu-matters-into-its-own-hands/

The memory industry is now witnessing a major shift, as DRAM suppliers are now looking to lock in customers into 'multi-year' contracts, essentially guaranteeing demand. Samsung Entering Into Long-Term Contracts Means Shortages Might Last Till The End of the Decade It appears that the demand for memory products among Big Tech is so massive that they are willing to take the risk of entering long-term agreements with suppliers like Samsung and Micron, which is seen as a rather 'untraditional' move within the industry. A report by the Korean media outlet EBN reveals that hyperscalers are entering into long-term memory contracts […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/big-tech-is-paying-billions-to-lock-in-memory-supply/