PC Gaming Hardware Company Predicts 2026 Will Be Its Toughest Year Yet Amid Price Increases of Up to 30%

It looks like there’s more bad news on the horizon for GPU and PC gaming hardware prices in 2026. MSI has indicated that ongoing DRAM shortages could lead to price hikes of up to 30 percent for some of its gaming products this year.

During an earnings call on March 13, MSI’s general manager, Huang Jinqing, informed investors that the company plans to increase prices on gaming hardware by 15 to 30 percent over the next nine months. This price surge is expected to primarily impact MSI’s lower-end and budget-friendly gaming options, as the company is scaling back production of these components. Instead, MSI aims to focus its resources on mid-range and high-end GPUs and hardware. Huang noted that customers are already showing a readiness to pay more, with the strategy being to charge higher prices while selling fewer units to balance out the reduced production and shipping in 2026.

Huang attributed the rising costs to persistent DRAM shortages, AI hyperscalers snapping up available memory, and a limited supply of Nvidia GPU components. These challenges are also prompting other hardware manufacturers to raise prices or delay product launches.

“This year is the most challenging year since the company was founded,” Huang stated during the earnings call.

According to Huang, a 16GB memory module that cost $40 last year is now priced at $170 or more. MSI currently has about two months’ worth of memory inventory and is working on securing multi-year contracts with other hardware manufacturers to mitigate high costs in the future. The company anticipates that due to these supply issues, the PC market could shrink by 10 to 20 percent.

This situation isn’t helping the ongoing RAM crisis, which has seen prices for PC and tech hardware rise week after week. Companies like Nvidia and Micron are increasingly prioritizing supply for tech giants like Microsoft, Meta, and Google, all of whom are racing to build AI data centers that require many of the same components essential for advanced gaming GPUs and RAM.

Even MSI is getting in on the AI action, with Huang revealing that the company is investing an additional $20 billion NTD (approximately $625 million USD) to establish a new AI server facility.