As most of you know, there have been severe DRAM shortages on a global scale due to high demand and limited production. Though DRAM is obviously not limited to PCs, it is one of the reasons why DDR4 DRAM prices have doubled ever since last year. 

The increased RAM prices have made the overall revenue stream created by the manufacturers booming. Make no mistake, the selling parties like the G.Skills and Corsairs among us still have narrow profit margins. However, it all starts with the actual DRAM chip fabrication, and the parties like Samsung, Micron, SK Hynix have seen their profits increase massively due to the high demand and low volume availability. Though it is expected that prices will stabilize next year, this year has seen an increase in demand by close to 75%.

RAM sales are projected to grow by 65 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter to reach an all-time high of $21.1 billion, according to IC Insights. DRAM sales have established a new all-time high in each quarter of 2017. 2017 will mark the fourth time since 1993 that DRAM sales have grown by more than 50 percent in a year. Between 1993 and this year, the market has grown by an average of 13 percent per year, according to IC Insights. The history of DRAM has been a continual boom and bust cycle. IC Insights said the DRAM market will likely experience a decline — possibly a large decline — in the near future as DRAM makers expand capacity and increase output over the next two years.

DRAM Sales Revenue Up By 65 percent In 2017