- DDR5 RAM prices appear to be falling in Europe
- Prices are down 10% to 15%, although the evidence is a limited snapshot of the market.
- On the downside, the Chinese RAM, which some expected to be an affordable alternative, doesn’t look so good.
There is a hopeful sign that RAM prices could finally be falling, although there is also more negative news that has crept in to balance that out a bit.
First, the good news, as Tom’s Hardware reports, is that DDR5 RAM prices appear to be dropping in Europe.
The tech site noted a claim on Reddit, showing a graph of the price of an “average” 32GB DDR5 memory kit in the EU, which sounds very vague, but points to a drop of around 10% (approximately) in price since the beginning of February.
This chart apparently comes from price comparison data compiled by Tweakers.net, a Dutch tech site, and there are anecdotal observations on the Reddit thread that this is what is happening in Europe.
Tom’s also did its own quick check of five popular DDR5 memory kits (from big brands) on Amazon Germany (using CamelCamelCamel price tracking), and found that a couple of products had dropped considerably, by 12% to 15%, since the beginning of February.
Therefore, there appears to be a price drop at some of Europe’s major retailers, which is good to see. Tom’s also looked at the US market and found evidence of much smaller price drops, but nothing you’ve read much about (yet).
While that’s a welcome relief, Wccftech also detected a more pessimistic signal, as noted by Chinese tech site IT Home.
As you may already know, there is some hope that more affordable RAM from Chinese manufacturers could become a relatively affordable option for Western buyers if it is imported, but this is not likely to happen, we are told.
In fact, KingBank, one of the big RAM manufacturers using CXMT memory chips (which was recently highlighted as a potential economic savior for the overinflated RAM market in the West) has increased its prices to levels similar to what we have seen in Europe and the United States.
Wccftech notes that a KingBank DDR5 32GB kit on JD.com now costs the equivalent of over $500, meaning it’s pretty much the same price as the big brands in the US. You might still be able to get a decent price on DDR4 memory, perhaps, in the short term, albeit with all the risks that come with buying from companies like AliExpress.
Analysis: has the maximum price been reached?
While the RAM news in China is far from good, I’ll take any positive attitude with a grain of salt, and the sight that memory prices in Europe are now falling is very welcome.
Well, it’s probably more about prices peaking such that buyers put off purchases more and more; In other words, a reflection of a swing in demand and a refusal to be swept away by panic buying, rather than a strengthening of available supply that is easing RAM prices in Europe.
But the net effect is still that prices are falling, rather than inexorably rising at a ridiculous rate, and I’ll look for any comfort I can find here. Of course, we need to continue watching prices through March to see if this downward trend could continue, albeit perhaps with a gentler decline, but any further decline will still be a positive sign that perhaps the market is starting to stabilize (finally).
I can’t say that I believe that will happen with conviction, mind you, but you never know, especially if buyers become more stubborn in trying to wait it out. The problem with that tactic, of course, is that the RAM crisis is not expected to go away anytime soon, and will most likely continue into and throughout 2027, if the sentiment of several analyst firms is correct.
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