Market research firm SemiAnalysis forecast that memory will account for about 30 percent of hyperscalers' capital expenditure in 2026.

That is a sharp rise from about 8 percent in 2023 to 2024. The share is expected to climb further in 2027, rising by about four times in four years.

A recent Tom's Hardware report said SemiAnalysis expects DRAM prices to more than double in 2026, with average selling prices rising at a double-digit pace in 2027. LPDDR5 contract prices have already risen more than threefold since the first quarter of 2025, and spot market prices this quarter are estimated to top $10 per gigabyte.

High-bandwidth memory, or HBM, a key component for AI accelerators, is expected to remain in short supply through 2027.

Rising memory costs are already being reflected in AI server prices. SemiAnalysis forecast that the B200 price could rise by as much as 20 percent by year-end, helped by higher memory costs.

Dell Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke (제프 클라크) said in an earnings call in November last year that the pace of component cost increases is at an "unprecedented level".

Counterpoint Research forecast that DDR5 64GB RDIMM module prices will reach about double their early 2025 level by the end of 2026.

An interesting point is that Nvidia receives 'VVP (Very Very Preferred)' DRAM prices from suppliers that are much lower than those paid by hyperscalers or the broader market. AMD faces the opposite situation, and is structurally more vulnerable than Nvidia to rising memory costs, the report said. SemiAnalysis said higher memory prices in 2026 were partly reflected in major cloud companies' capex guidance, but additional increases in 2027 have not yet been reflected in Wall Street estimates.