The price of DDR5 RAM is set to drop very swiftly, if the component grapevine is to be believed.
This is according to a report by DigiTimes (opens in new tab), one which we’d take with some caution, as the industry sources specified could have the wrong end of the memory stick – but they claim that DDR5 price tags will fall rapidly as the rest of 2022 rolls onwards.
The sources observe that whereas DDR5 was once triple the price of DDR4, now the market has corrected to more like double for manufacturers selling memory chips – and at retail, flogging DDR5 RAM is “almost a money-losing business” apparently.
In the manufacturing sphere, DDR5 contract prices fell by 20% compared to a 10% to 15% drop for DDR4, and further drops in DDR5 pricing are expected in 2023. Indeed, the report contends that next year will be the “sweet spot” for DDR5 RAM prices.
Analysis: Cheaper DDR5, and faster DDR5, in the pipeline
We’ve already seen some considerable downward movement in DDR5 price tags this year, so the news of further falls is obviously going to be music to the ears of consumers. Particularly those picking up a new rig with an Intel Alder Lake CPU, and later this year, the incoming Raptor Lake plus AMD Ryzen 7000 chips, as all of those platforms support DDR5.
Of course, this is the expected trajectory when a new RAM standard comes in, and it happened with DDR4 when that was introduced. To begin with, the RAM is extortionately priced, and the cost then comes down to a more palatable level (not to mention faster performing modules are brought in, too, as the tech matures).
How far is pricing going to fall for DDR5? Well, the mention of the sweet spot for 2023 indicates a normalization of pricing down more towards the level of DDR4 next year, which would certainly be good to see.
With Black Friday not too far off now, and these apparent price drops in the pipeline, we wouldn’t bet against there being some quite tasty deals on the horizon for DDR5 memory.
Via Tom’s Hardware (opens in new tab)