A supply shortage is the last thing tech companies want to talk about at CES. The annual trade show is their chance to promote new products and drum up excitement for what's coming, not discuss the one thing that could make selling new products in 2026 an uphill battle.
But I've read the reports. I've seen the RAM kits selling for thousands of dollars. I've heard the statements from laptop suppliers and part manufacturers warning investors about what's coming. You probably have too. The memory chip shortage is already dire for companies and for individuals who build their own PCs. But don't think because you only use a laptop and a phone you're going to get out of this so easy.
While the situation remains grim, I met two companies who have engineered ways out. Their plans aren’t guaranteed to work, and they won’t be easy to pull off. But they just might be our only hope.
Waiting for the Bubble to Pop
Dell COO Jeff Clarke. Photograph: Luke Larsen
“We're waiting for the AI bubble to pop,” a spokesperson from a small PC manufacturer who wished to remain anonymous told me when asked about how they were handling the memory shortage.
None of the big laptop manufacturers or PC builders would say something quite that direct, but actions speak louder than words. While happily selling “AI PCs,” Lenovo, Dell, Asus, and HP have all stated that they'll be doing everything in their power to secure their supply of DRAM for the foreseeable future.
“I’ve been at this a long time. This is the worst shortage I’ve ever seen.” Dell COO Jeff Clarke
DRAM, or dynamic random-access memory, is the kind of memory used in laptops and phones, and it’s what the three main memory manufacturers are now turning their backs on in favor of high-bandwidth memory for AI data centers. Lack of memory is the main reason you can’t run ChatGPT on your PC and have to outsource every prompt to the cloud.
I spoke to Dell COO Jeff Clarke in December about what his company was doing to remedy the situation. “Our focus has been to secure the supply. That has always been the number one rule of our supply chain—to never run out of parts. We’ve been at this for a while. This just didn’t show up. So we’ve been out there for a while securing our supply.”
... continue reading