We do it to ourselves. The increase in computer sales despite shortages is noticeable

The problem of RAM module shortages is only growing. Manufacturers focused on the needs of the AI ​​market, leaving the consumer market in the lurch. However, the reaction of the consumer market to this state of affairs is one of the worst possible, and at the same time… fully understandable.

Well, in the fourth quarter of 2025, when the problems with the RAM shortage began to unfold and module prices began to reach absurd values, increasing by up to several hundred percent. And it was during this time that PC sales increased by 9.6%, reaching 76.4 million units.

It is worth emphasizing, however, that several factors contribute to this. The first is, of course, the holiday season. However, as IDC points out, the increase was much higher than expected for this particular reason. Another reason is the end of support for Windows 10. And although it has been postponed in Europe, globally it is already a dead system. However, updating to Windows 11 requires a TPM 2.0 module, which is not available in older configurations, which requires replacing the hardware.

The last of the indicated reasons is the desire to stock up and buy computers while they are still available. Thus, shortages drive sales, which therefore increase equipment shortages. Jean Philippe Bouchard, vice president of research for Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers at IDC, says the increases are only temporary:

IDC predicts that the PC market will look very different in 12 months, given the pace of change in memory. In addition to the obvious pressure on system prices already announced by some manufacturers, we can also expect PC memory specifications to be lowered in order to maintain available memory resources. The coming year promises to be extremely unstable.