As of early January 2026, consumers and businesses building or upgrading PCs, laptops, smartphones, and other devices are facing sharply higher costs for RAM (DRAM) and storage (NAND flash-based SSDs). DDR5 memory kits that cost around $100-200 mid-2025 now often exceed $400-500 for equivalent capacities, with similar upward pressure on DDR4 and storage prices. This…