Mini PC maker says price hike is driven by rising DRAM and SSD costs
Minisforum, a maker of mini desktop PCs, said it was raising prices due to the rising cost of “raw material” components. The culprits appear to be the rising prices of DRAM and flash memory, where the market is starting to worry and react to possible shortages.
Last night, the Minisforum published a reviews on (via Tom’s Hardware) stating that the company would implement a “slight pricing adjustment due to rising global material costs.” Notably, the company stated that “barebone models and products without DDR5 memory and/or SSD will not be affected by this adjustment at this time.”
The company did not say how prices would be affected or whether the price increases were a short-term adjustment or just an overall increase. So far, other mini PC makers (as well as laptop and desktop makers) have not followed suit, leaving open the question of whether or not the Minisforum’s decision was an isolated decision or if it was the proverbial canary in the coal mine, signaling disaster.
There is some evidence to believe that the latter may be the case. Memory and storage makers began sounding the alarm earlier this year, and the volatile components market responded. PC market growth rates have stagnated throughout 2025, but demand for additional memory and storage from AI companies has been insatiable, driving prices to rise and accelerate.
For example, TrendForce, which monitors the short-term spot market in Asia, recently reported that the price of a 16Gb DDR4-3200 DRAM chip rose 15.9% in just one week. This is not helped by the fact that DDR4 memory production is stopping, limiting the available supply. Simple economics says that prices will rise accordingly.
“Modular homes with inventory are now holding back, driving prices up even faster,” the company said. “From a buyer’s perspective, even though demand for consumer electronics has not materially recovered, there is a strong incentive to maintain safe inventory levels due to expectations of continued significant price increases.”
SSD flash memory hasn’t escaped either: the market seems to be panicking a bit, grabbing available flash memory just to have it on hand, further deteriorating market conditions. “Due to low spot availability, as well as general market consensus of room for further growth in 4Q25, buyers are now tending to grab products to preserve their inventory, which has further intensified spot constraints,” TrendForce wrote.
Spots for 512GB TLC slices rose 27.96% this week, to $4.576, the company found. (Remember, these are 512 GB chips, so eight of them would be needed to make a 512 GB flash drive. And since flash drives now easily exceed two terabytes and more, all these price increases add up.)
It’s all a bit annoying, especially as we approach the holidays and traditional Black Friday sales. Will other PC makers follow Minisforum’s lead? Between shortages caused by hyperscalers and other AI companies, it’s starting to look like vacation deals might be harder to come by in 2025.
