Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – RAM prices in Indonesia have increased since several months ago. This phenomenon occurred when the RAM chip crisis occurred globally.
This price increase occurred when CNBC Indonesia met several sellers at ITC Kuningan, Jakarta. A number of sellers admitted that the prices of DDR 4 and DDR 5 had increased since the end of last year.
Price increases vary. However, some sellers claim that the latest DDR 5 has increased to IDR 1 million.
“4GB DDR 4 RAM costs (normally) IDR 600-700 thousand, now it’s IDR 900 thousand. If DDR 5 is the newest, 16GB RAM is usually IDR 1.9 million to IDR 2.9 million,” said Nasrun, Tuesday (20/1/2026).
A shop employee met at ITC also said that DDR 5 for 16GB is now priced at IDR 3.8 million. The price has gone up since the end of last year.
“The increase from the end of the year was all Rp. 500-700 thousand for the Vgen brand, especially for the Vgen brand. For the Team Elite brand, Rp. 500-700 thousand,” he said.
According to sellers, there are still RAM stocks available, but the amount is not much more than usual.
Hasan, a seller, also said that RAM stock was still available. But sellers are afraid to buy it.
“There are a few, sellers are afraid to buy. Because users are also afraid to buy seeing that price,” he explained.
Several sellers admitted that there had been no decrease in buyers since RAM prices increased. One of the reasons is because of the urgent need for their damaged laptop and the solution is to upgrade the RAM.
“Yes, if you need it, you will definitely look for it. What if it breaks? Like it or not, he uses a laptop,” said Hasan.
However, there are also a number of buyers who exchange their devices for new laptops. Because the price of RAM is up to one unit of the newest laptop, such as DDR 5 32 GB, the price reaches IDR 7-8 million.
“Most likely it will be a trade-in for a laptop, because the price is not much different,” said one seller.
Causes of the Global Chip Crisis
Separately, research firm IDC estimates that in the first semester of 2026 the supply-demand gap will get worse, triggering shortages and higher prices.
“This condition is expected to begin to ease in the second semester, but prices will remain high at least until early 2027,” explained Vanessa.
The causes include the construction of AI data centers in large numbers for the short-medium term, as well as the main memory players who have shifted capacity expansion and investment to the hyperscale or AI segment.
The high demand for AI chips makes manufacturers prioritize chips related to AI, thus ‘setting aside’ the production of conventional chips for consumer electronic devices such as cellphones, laptops and household appliances. In fact, demand for AI chips and conventional chips continues to increase.
“In particular, the supply/manufacturing of low-end memory such as DDR4, which is widely used in entry-level smartphones, continues to be reduced,” explained Vanessa.
“While the transition to DDR5 has not yet occurred on a massive scale, and even if it did, suppliers are prioritizing hyperscale/AI,” he added.
At the same time, demand from the client side for smartphones, PCs, etc., as well as automotive, especially EVs, grew strongly, thereby also driving demand for memory and storage.
On the other hand, the impact of price increases could also spread to the used device market. For smartphones, an increase in the official market can trigger an increase in demand in the second-hand market, which ultimately increases prices.
As for the PC and PC components sector, the impact is expected to be more pronounced because the second-hand market is more mature.
(fab/fab)
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
