Acer CEO Jason Chen expects PC prices to begin easing by late 2027 as pressure from the ongoing memory shortage subsides, contrasting with forecasts from several major memory manufacturers that supply constraints could persist into 2030 or beyond.
Chen told DigiTimes that PC prices could rise by 5% to 20% later this year, potentially reaching a peak in the first half of 2027 before beginning to decline toward the end of the year.
The outlook comes amid a sharp increase in memory prices, driven in part by strong demand from artificial intelligence data centres.
Acer CEO challenges longer shortage forecasts
Memory industry executives have offered varying estimates for how long the current supply constraints could last.
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra has said memory shortages could continue beyond 2027, while SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-Jung has predicted that shortages could peak in 2027, with supply remaining tight through 2030.
Adata chairman Chen Li-bai has offered an even longer outlook, forecasting elevated memory prices for another decade.
Acer’s Chen has challenged these assessments, arguing that supply for many mainstream RAM and SSD products has already caught up with demand.
According to Chen, shortages are now more concentrated in higher-end components, including the fastest DDR5 memory modules.
AI boom puts pressure on memory supply
The memory market has faced significant pressure since the expansion of AI infrastructure accelerated demand for high-capacity memory.
The increased demand from data-centre construction has affected the availability and pricing of DRAM, with higher memory costs feeding into the prices of PCs, smartphones, graphics cards and gaming consoles.
The pressure has also affected related components, including CPUs and motherboards, as manufacturers adjust their products and pricing to account for higher memory costs.
Cheaper Chinese supply could ease prices
Chen expects additional production from Chinese memory manufacturers to help improve supply and reduce pricing pressure.
Companies such as CXMT are expanding their presence in the memory market, potentially adding lower-cost supply as manufacturers seek to meet growing demand.
Recent reports have also suggested that Apple is considering CXMT as a potential memory supplier as it looks for ways to manage rising component costs.
However, geopolitical and trade restrictions could affect the extent to which Chinese memory manufacturers can expand their role in global supply chains.
For consumers, Acer’s forecast suggests that PC prices could remain under pressure in the near term before potentially easing as additional memory capacity becomes available.
