Driven by surging AI server demand and capacity adjustments by memory manufacturers, contract prices for PC memory and solid-state drives are projected to continue climbing in the fourth quarter of 2026—albeit at a slower pace. PC DRAM prices are expected to rise 13%–18% quarter-over-quarter, while consumer-grade SSDs are forecast to increase 0%–5%. Global memory prices have been on the rise for over a year, and cost pressures on PC manufacturers continue to mount. Some manufacturers had stockpiled inventory in advance, driving up finished-device prices and weighing on end-market sales in Asia and Europe, with manufacturer and channel inventories rising in tandem. Notebook shipments fell 15.8% quarter-over-quarter in Q3 2026 and are expected to decline by a single-digit percentage in Q4, prompting several manufacturers to scale back their memory procurement plans going forward. In the PC DRAM segment, despite weak end demand and rising inventories, leading memory makers plan to further cut supply in 2027, underpinning the continued upward price trajectory. In consumer-grade SSDs, PC manufacturers are tightening procurement budgets and pushing back against price hikes, generally reducing purchase volumes; competition among suppliers in the mainstream-capacity SSD market is capping price increases; meanwhile, memory manufacturers are reallocating more capacity to AI servers and enterprise storage products while curbing demand by raising quotes for low-capacity SSDs—altogether significantly narrowing the overall price increase.