There aren't any Black Friday deals on RAM this year, and you can thank AI for that (www.engadget.com)

Black Friday bargains on RAM are basically non‑existent this year because prices have surged as memory makers divert production to meet massive AI/data‑center demand. Retail listings that look like discounts often aren’t — price‑tracking sites such as PCPartPicker and CamelCamelCamel show many “deals” are priced higher than recent lows. Examples: a 32GB 6000MHz DDR5 G.Skill kit listed around $400 (with promo incentives) sold for about $155 a few months ago, and a 32GB Crucial DDR5 bundle listed at $322 was roughly $175 a month earlier. Even DDR4 stock and pricing have tightened. Major suppliers — SK Hynix, Samsung and others — produce both consumer and server DRAM, and much of current output is being purchased at volume by AI/cloud players like NVIDIA, Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic. That shift matters for builders and the broader PC market: component shortages are inflating costs for RAM and starting to push up SSD and GPU prices, with some vendors reporting dramatic jumps (CyberPowerPC cited memory up ~500% and SSDs up ~100%). The supply squeeze is structural rather than seasonal, so prices are unlikely to normalize quickly; analysts and vendors expect elevated RAM costs into early 2026 unless demand from AI infrastructure cools or manufacturers significantly ramp capacity. For consumers the choice is uncomfortable — buy now at higher prices or wait and hope for relief.