At Nehru Place in the national capital, the beginnings of a looming pricing crisis in personal electronics is taking shape, as customers and retailers alike in the sprawling computer market struggle to get their hands on RAM sticks and SSDs, components used in desktop PCs, laptops and smartphones. Over the last few weeks, prices of these computer memory components have surged with little precedent, beyond even the levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, as AI hyperscalers around the world crowd out a supply chain that now has less room for consumer-grade products.
At Manoj PC Wala, one of several single-unit shops, a single stick of DDR5 16GB RAM — that until November was selling for about ₹5,000 at worst — now bears a fresh MRP sticker, after the Indian importer ripped out a previous one. The current price is ₹15,000. “SSD prices have doubled, and RAM prices have increased four times,” Subhash, one of the store’s attendants said. Price data for these components reviewed by The Hindu confirm this assessment.