The advent of AI compute workloads has caused a severe shortage of memory and storage components, as manufacturers flock toward greener pastures in the enterprise level, blinded by the temptation of AI.
Consumers are left behind, crumbling for scraps as DDR5 and DDR4 prices rise to astronomical levels, with no respite in sight.
Interestingly, HP might be onto a solution as they turn to the Chinese supplier market for cheaper solutions (when compared to the big three).
HP Eyes Chinese DRAM Sources as Global Memory Crisis Continues
As per tech analyst Tae Kim, HP might be looking to source memory components from Chinese manufacturers in the near future. Currently, the global RAM chain is handled by two players – Samsung and SK Hynix.
With Crucial out of the game for good (thanks to Micron culling its consumer business in favor of enterprise solutions) there has been a significant gap in production, which in turn opens the floodgates for Chinese vendors to swoop in and bring their own offerings.
Additionally, as per the report, memory chips can be classified as ‘commodities’, which means that unlike AI chips from Nvidia and AMD, these can be quite easily replaced by third party alternatives.
Armed with the possibility of additional players in the market, HP might be on the right track here, by shifting its focus to less expensive alternatives in the consumer market.
This should (in theory) allow for HP to offset the insane RAM pricing we’ve seen lately, and thereby keep their devices (laptops and desktops) at more reasonable rates.
Which happens to be quite necessary, as global DRAM manufacturers do not seem to be interested in ramping up DRAM production and offsetting some of the yield to consumers.
That being said, take this information with a grain of salt, as you would with most rumors.
