Retail prices for consumer electronics in Ukraine may gradually increase by 40–60% in the coming quarter. The main reason is the global shortage of RAM and flash memory (DRAM and SSD), which is massively directed to meet the needs of the artificial intelligence industry.
Retail prices for consumer electronics in Ukraine may gradually increase by 40–60% in the coming quarter. The main reason is the global shortage of RAM and flash memory (DRAM and SSD), which is massively directed to meet the needs of the artificial intelligence industry.
This was stated by Volodymyr Yurko, head of the distribution department of ASBIS-Ukraine, in a column for NV.Business.
According to experts, over the past year, the average retail price of laptops in Ukraine has already increased by 22%. In the desktop computer segment, the price increase reached about 55%, and in the gaming sector — 48%. Currently, the increase in prices in retail chains is restrained only by warehouse stocks purchased earlier at older tariffs. However, this effect is short-term, and as reserves are exhausted, the market will begin to level out in accordance with global trends, Yurko believes.
Global chipmakers are currently operating at capacity. Due to high margins, they are prioritizing orders for the AI segment, which requires huge amounts of fast memory for data centers. Global contracts for the supply of AI chips have already been signed for 2026–2027.
«If processors and graphics accelerators are the „engine“ of artificial intelligence, then memory ensures a continuous supply of data. That is why it has become one of the scarcest resources in the technological chain,» explains Volodymyr Yurko.
According to him, the limitation of component supplies affects the entire spectrum of equipment — from servers and video cards to smartphones and smart devices. To keep prices down, manufacturers may begin to reduce the amount of memory in the basic configurations of new-generation devices. It will not be possible to fully compensate for this deficit in the local market at the expense of logistics hubs, so postponing the purchase of equipment for Ukrainian consumers may not be profitable at the moment.
Previously, the owner of Citrus and Yabluk, Artur Hatunok, warned that laptops and smart devices will soon become more expensive by 20–30% due to a shortage of flash memory on the global market.
