Technology
The RAM crunch could kill products and even entire companies, memory exec admits
Phison is one of the leading makers of controller chips for SSDs and other flash memory devices — and CEO Pua Khein-Seng has now become a leading voice for just how bad the RAM shortage might get.
Companies may need to cut back their product lines in the second half of 2026, and some companies will even die if they can’t get the components they need, he agreed, in a televised interview with Ningguan Chen of Taiwanese broadcaster Next TV.
While the interview’s entirely in Chinese, friends of The Verge stepped forward to confirm parts of a machine-translated summary that’s been making headlines. They also note, importantly, that it’s the interviewer asking whether companies might shut down or product lines might discontinue. Khein-Seng largely just agreed and clarified that it’ll happen if these companies cannot secure enough RAM.
He also adds that he expects people will start fixing products more often when they break, instead of throwing them in the trash, over the next couple years.
It’s genuinely possible that some companies won’t be able to secure enough RAM. AI data centers are gobbling up the vast majority of the world’s memory supply as part of a global buildout, creating an unprecedented imbalance in supply and demand that’s seen RAM prices triple, quadruple, or even sextuple over the past handful of months. Even Nvidia might skip shipping a gaming GPU for the first time in 30 years. Even Apple may have trouble securing enough RAM now, not to mention memory chips for SSDs, and other vital components.
The RAM shortage may affect everything that computing touches over the next several years, as only three companies control 93 percent of the entire DRAM market, and while those three companies are building more facilities, they don’t want to build too fast. All three have decided to prioritize profits instead of risking overproduction that could lose them money later.
Tomorrow, February 19th, I’ll have a report on The Verge about how “RAMageddon” will affect you, even if you’d never think to buy a stick of memory yourself.
On June 10th, the German container ship Posen docked in Los Angeles after a two-week voyage from Shanghai. As Valve watcher Brad Lynch notes, it was almost certainly carrying the first mass production shipments of the Steam Frame, Valve’s new gaming headset.
Import records show that Valve’s distribution partner Ceva offloaded nearly 32 metric tons of “Virtual Reality Devices” on Valve’s behalf — or roughly 13 tons of actual product, after you subtract the roughly 3,700 kilogram weight of five 40-foot shipping containers.
Speaking of the Steam Machine, Valve’s stockpile may now have grown to 141 metric tons, as that’s roughly how much “Game Consoles” product has arrived in 12,600kg containers since April 23rd.
And it looks like Valve probably received three shipments of Steam Deck handhelds in May, two on May 18th and one on May 30th, judging by how those containers had the higher gross weight of 14,500kg. That’s generally how heavy Valve’s “Game Console” containers were before the Steam Machine was announced.
13 tons isn’t actually a lot of VR headsets, of course, but perhaps more of them fit into a container than the Steam Machine console. They each weigh 654g (roughly 1.44lb) with a pair of wand controllers; back-of-the-napkin math suggests we’re probably talking about fewer than 20,000 units right now.
There might not be that many Steam Machines in the US yet, either: 141 metric tons could easily be fewer than 50,000 units at their higher 2.6kg weight per console, not counting any controllers or cables.
Valve confirmed days ago that both the Steam Machine and Steam Frame will launch this summer, and has signaled that it had to rethink prices because of RAMageddon. Even if they’re pricey, though, they may sell out quickly.
Apple CEO Tim Cook delivered his final WWDC keynote as Apple CEO, announcing smarter features included in the tech company’s next big software update. (Josh Edelson / AFP via Getty Images)
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SIRI UPGRADE: Apple used WWDC 2026, its annual developers conference, to lay out what is coming next for your iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro. This year’s keynote also carried extra weight because it marked Tim Cook’s final WWDC as Apple CEO before John Ternus takes over in September. Still, the biggest story for users was software. Apple put Siri AI and Apple Intelligence at the center of the keynote, while also announcing iOS 27 support for older iPhones, new child safety tools, faster performance and smarter features across everyday apps.
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WORKFORCE WIN: Tech giant Meta on Monday announced that it’s launching a new academy for workers to receive training in a skilled trade at no cost with a job guaranteed for all graduates.
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LABOR RECKONING: U.S. employers ramped up layoffs in May as the artificial intelligence (AI) rollout was the leading factor cited by companies cutting their workforces, new data shows.
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Memory is now the most expensive component in a smartphone. It’s more expensive than the processor, more expensive than the display, and can account for more than 50% of the total hardware bill.
For Phone (4a), memory costs doubled between when we decided to build the device and when it launched. They’ve doubled again since.
I posted about this earlier this year. It’s now playing out, faster than predicted.
Phone prices are going up, and they’ll keep going up into next year. Since February, new phones have been launching up to $100 more expensive than their predecessors. In India, phones above ₹30K have seen price jumps of ₹7,000 or more.
The natural instinct is to buy ahead. It doesn’t work that way. In a shortage, memory is allocated, not bought. You get what you’re given, at the current price.
If you’ve been waiting to upgrade a device, the best time was yesterday. The next best time is now. This year’s sale season won’t have the discounts people are used to.
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