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Holy cow, severe shortage of silicon because of exploding demand.
"...The supply chain cannot hold. It is breaking. Building a new fabrication plant takes three to five years. Expanding high-bandwidth memory production takes two to three years. Adding advanced packaging capacity takes 18 to 24 months. After exhausting spare capacity and drawing down inventories to crisis levels, the world has reached a point where the bottlenecks are multiplying...The factories required to solve this problem have not yet been built..."
Micron is the company that I'm most familiar with from this list. Their memory chips are in competition with Samsung and SK Hynix and all 3 companies are reporting outstanding earnings from their memory chip business due to the heightened demand and short supply, therefore leading to pricing power. Capacity won't be increased until next year at the earliest. This memory chip demand cycle could continue longer than previous memory chip demand cycles due to AI demand and Micron's valuation is low. Seems like a good setup for future returns.
I think that there's also alot of euphoria around these names, including Micron. I've been watching it but haven't pulled the trigger as of yet.
Dean Beeler, co-founder and tech chief at Juice Labs, said that a few months ago, he loaded up his computer with 256GB of RAM, the maximum amount that current consumer motherboards support. That cost him about $300 at the time.
“Who knew that would end up being ~$3,000 of RAM just a few months later,” he posted on Facebook on Monday.
Buying or building a new PC has gotten significantly more expensive. Ram that I looked at a year ago at $89 is now $500 and out-of-stock.
"The disequilibrium stems from manufacturers’ reallocation of production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory for AI data centers. HBM commands higher margins than conventional DRAM, driving Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron to shift capacity away from traditional enterprise and consumer memory products."
Micron recently exited the consumer memory market entirely to concentrate on AI and enterprise markets. Gartner forecasts DRAM prices to increase by 47% in 2026 due to supply shortages.
Dean Beeler, co-founder and tech chief at Juice Labs, said that a few months ago, he loaded up his computer with 256GB of RAM, the maximum amount that current consumer motherboards support. That cost him about $300 at the time.
“Who knew that would end up being ~$3,000 of RAM just a few months later,” he posted on Facebook on Monday.
Buying or building a new PC has gotten significantly more expensive. Ram that I looked at a year ago at $89 is now $500 and out-of-stock.
Great news for the used computer market and/or people comfortable doing their chores on linux and getting more life out of old gear.
All those old RAM sticks are no longer only about the gold fingers.
So this thread begs me to ask, what is my old PC worth as scrap?
Check the model name and number on ebay. If you built your own you can separately price the RAM, CPU, video card, etc. You might get more parting it out, and you wouldn't have to deal with shipping the entire unit.
Don't assume it's scrap. I'ld say any computer that was capable of running Windows 7, or later, should be OK for one of the lighter linux distros. If you're not playing games you really don't need Windows or fancy video and sound.
Comments
Turbines are sold out.
New construction takes time to build.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/07/best-performing-stocks-of-2025-dont-include-alphabet-nvidia.html
Top 10 performers in the Russell 1000 in 2025
Lumentum Holdings LITE +339%
Anglogold Ashanti AU +270%
AST SpaceMobile ASTS +244%
Micron Technology MU +239%
MP Materials MP +224%
Robinhood Markets HOOD +204%
Western Digital WDC +189%
Ciena CIEN +176%
Rocket Lab RKLB +174%
Warner Bros. Discovery WBD +173%
I think that there's also alot of euphoria around these names, including Micron. I've been watching it but haven't pulled the trigger as of yet.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/for-micron-stock-history-may-no-longer-apply/ar-AA1TS3OT
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/10/micron-ai-memory-shortage-hbm-nvidia-samsung.html
“Who knew that would end up being ~$3,000 of RAM just a few months later,” he posted on Facebook on Monday.
Buying or building a new PC has gotten significantly more expensive. Ram that I looked at a year ago at $89 is now $500 and out-of-stock.
toward high-bandwidth memory for AI data centers.
HBM commands higher margins than conventional DRAM, driving Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron
to shift capacity away from traditional enterprise and consumer memory products."
Micron recently exited the consumer memory market entirely to concentrate on AI and enterprise markets.
Gartner forecasts DRAM prices to increase by 47% in 2026 due to supply shortages.
https://www.networkworld.com/article/4113772/samsung-warns-of-memory-shortages-driving-industry-wide-price-surge-in-2026.html
All those old RAM sticks are no longer only about the gold fingers.
Don't assume it's scrap. I'ld say any computer that was capable of running Windows 7, or later, should be OK for one of the lighter linux distros. If you're not playing games you really don't need Windows or fancy video and sound.