The Numbers Behind the Shortage
If you've been window-shopping for a new laptop and felt like the price tags have quietly crept up, you're not imagining it. The component crunch that's been brewing all year just got a fresh batch of hard numbers, and they're ugly. According to market analyst firm Counterpoint, global smartphone shipments cratered 11 percent in the last quarter — the lowest second-quarter total since 2013. Rival firm Omdia pegs the drop a bit smaller at 4 percent, but agrees on the cause and the direction. The blame sits squarely on the rising cost of DRAM and NAND memory, the very same chips that go into every laptop on the shelf.
The root problem is a supply tug-of-war. Memory makers have been funneling capacity toward the AI computing boom — data-center GPUs and servers that swallow HBM and high-density NAND by the truckload — which leaves fewer wafers for the consumer side. When supply tightens and AI demand stays ravenous, prices climb, and the people building $400 laptops feel it first.
Why Laptops Are Caught in the Crossfire
Here's the part that matters for anyone eyeing a notebook. Phones and laptops buy from the same memory pools. Omdia's research found that in devices priced at $500 or less, memory can now easily account for half of the total manufacturing cost. Even on flagships, memory has climbed past a quarter of the bill of materials. Translation: the cheap, cheerful laptops that students and budget buyers love are exactly the ones getting squeezed hardest, because there's no fat left to absorb a component price hike.
That's why you're seeing fewer aggressive door-buster deals and more "starting at" prices that quietly inch upward. Gaming laptops, which lean on both lots of system RAM and expensive GDDR7 VRAM, are especially exposed. When the memory line item doubles, the whole machine gets pricier — and unlike a phone, you can't really shrink a laptop's RAM without gutting the experience.
A Fresh Example: Lenovo's Legion 7a
You can see the premium end of this playing out in fresh hardware news from this week. On July 12, Tom's Hardware reported that Lenovo's Legion 7a gaming laptop now offers an RTX 5070 12GB GPU configuration, paired with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 processor. It's a welcome option — the SKU was previously capped at the weaker RTX 5060 — but the new build lands at roughly $3,375. That's flagship money for a mid-tier GPU, and component costs are a big reason the number sits where it does. It's a useful snapshot of the broader trend: even when manufacturers add value, the underlying silicon economics keep pushing totals north.
The Big Get Bigger
The shortage is also reshaping who survives it. Counterpoint's top five — Samsung, Apple, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi — are weathering it unevenly. Apple actually grew shipments about 3 percent last quarter by holding prices steady on its current generation, while Samsung's focus on higher-margin flagships (the Galaxy S26 Ultra in particular) kept it on top at 24 percent share. The budget-heavy Chinese OEMs, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, all slipped. Google's Pixel line was a bright spot, up 16 percent year over year on strong Pixel 10 sales. The lesson for laptops is the same: brands that can absorb memory costs at the high end stay steady, while the affordable tiers contract.
Counterpoint expects the component shortage to stretch at least into next year. Even in a best-case where AI demand cools, analysts think we'll see fewer low-margin budget machines and higher prices on whatever remains. In other words, this isn't a two-week blip you can wait out.
The Silver Lining — and How to Ride It Out
There's a weird upside buried in all this. With new devices getting pricier, the smart move for a lot of people is to keep the laptop they already own running longer — and the industry is quietly making that easier. Samsung and Google now promise seven years of updates on their phones, on par with Apple, and the same "support your hardware longer" ethos is spreading to PCs through longer warranty coverage and continued driver support for older chips. If your current machine does what you need, the financial case for upgrading has rarely been weaker.
If you're going to stretch the life of your laptop, a little protection pays for itself many times over. This is exactly where ShaggyMax's UnderWare line earns its keep: a dual-sided microfiber screen protector that guards the display against oils and scratches without dulling clarity, a form-fitting keyboard cover that stops crumbs and wear from grinding into the switches, and a cleaning kit to keep everything spotless. It's made in the USA, offered in multiple colors, and available in custom sizes if your machine isn't a standard fit. When the alternative is eating a $300–$500 price hike on the next notebook, keeping your current one clean and intact is the cheapest upgrade you can make.
A few practical moves while prices are inflated: consider last-generation or refurbished models (often the better value right now), buy RAM and storage upgrades only if you'll actually use them, and don't sleep on the used market where depreciation has already done the discounting for you.
The Takeaway
The "RAMpocalypse" isn't a phone-only story — it's a memory-story, and laptops drink from the same well. With DRAM and NAND prices elevated by the AI build-out and no relief expected before next year, expect budget and mid-range notebooks to keep getting more expensive while premium flagships hold their ground. For most people, the winning play is to hold onto a capable machine a little longer and take care of it. Do that, and you can let the shortage pass you by — and maybe treat your trusty laptop to a fresh screen protector while you're at it.