Exclusive Server and PC prices are climbing sharply as hardware manufacturers grapple with soaring memory component costs, multiple supply chain sources have told The Register.
Major manufacturers including Dell, Lenovo, HP, and HPE are planning price increases of around 15 percent for servers and 5 percent for PCs, according to channel sources.
"I believe the hikes are coming from everyone," said a contact at a major reseller who requested anonymity.
Dell COO Jeff Clarke called the memory shortages "unprecedented" during a recent earnings call [PDF], noting that the problem extends beyond DRAM to NAND, hard drives, and leading-edge semiconductor nodes.
"We have not seen costs move at the rate that we've seen," Clarke said. "Demand is way ahead of supply."
A Dell spokesperson did not deny plans to increase prices, saying the company takes "targeted pricing action when necessary" while maintaining supply continuity.
Marco Andresen, COO at Lenovo's Intelligent Devices Group, echoed the severity, telling us, "There is an unprecedented cost increase widely in the industry, especially on memory and SSD. The cost increase itself is more dramatic than usual – more than any player can mitigate."
Analysts warned in September that memory makers were prioritizing higher-end DRAM and HBM production for AI servers. TrendForce estimated DRAM prices could jump 8 to 13 percent, while Counterpoint forecast an even steeper impact.
On Wednesday, memory maker Micron announced it would kill off its Crucial brand of consumer memory DRAM and storage products after 29 years so it could focus more on the needs of large clients with AI systems.
At Wednesday's UBS Global Technology and AI conference, HP CFO Karen Parkhill described the "increased cost of memory" as a "temporary headwind" that "really impacts PCs, not peripherals."
She said HP would focus on "reconfiguring solutions to optimize the memory situation for our customers." HP did not respond to requests for comment.
A senior European reseller source expects elongated lead times from all major PC brands, with price increases across the board except for Apple Macs and Microsoft Surface products.
HPE, currently in its quiet period before Q4 results, acknowledged the industry is "experiencing constraints and pricing increases on certain memory components due to the rapid expansion in AI datacenters and compute refresh cycles," a spokesperson told us.
Matt Eastwood, senior VP of research at IDC, told us that while suppliers are experienced at managing volatile component pricing, the "magnitude" of current memory market movement is "unique." ®
Source: The register