AMD warns DDR5 prices won't recover until 2028 as AI demand continues pulling supply away from consumers

If you have been holding off on a PC upgrade, hoping DDR5 prices would come down soon, AMD has some bad news. David McAfee, AMD's VP and GM of Client Channel Business, told 4Gamers during Computex 2026 that DDR5 memory prices are not expected to return to normal levels for around two years, putting any meaningful recovery around 2028.

In the interview, David pointed to the AI boom that has shifted supply away from consumer DDR5 and toward HBM for AI data centers. DDR4 production capacity has also been declining over the past year or two as manufacturers shifted investment heavily toward DDR5. This has left users on older platforms squeezed from both directions.

To give you an idea of the impact, a 32GB Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000 kit that cost around $100 in late 2025 is now selling for around $440. McAfee expects prices to recover gradually as new capacity comes online. Samsung, Micron, and China's CXMT are expanding their DDR5 production capacity. The problem is that building new memory manufacturing facilities takes years, meaning the relief is real but slow.

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The interview also touched on AMD's AM5 platform and what comes after it. McAfee confirmed that switching to a new socket is a significant engineering and financial decision, with higher upfront costs for every new platform. AMD is evaluating whether AM5 can continue to support upcoming standards like DDR6 and PCIe 6.0 before committing to any socket change.

At Computex, AMD extended its AM5 support commitment through 2029, suggesting the platform will carry at least Zen 6 and possibly Zen 7 before any successor arrives. Pointing to the PCIe 4.0-to-5.0 transition, McAfee also noted that user experience plays a role in these decisions. AMD wants to ensure a socket change delivers tangible benefits rather than incremental gains that raise costs without sufficient payoff for builders.

That said, David's comments confirm earlier reports that the "memory shortage" in the mainstream market will remain through 2026 and 2027. We have also heard Micron's CEO describe AI memory demand as being in its "first innings," suggesting it is not going away anytime soon and will only continue to grow.