The price of DDR5 RAM is expected to drop very quickly, if you believe the component.
This is in line with the authorship report DigiTimes (opens in a new tab)which we would take with some caution as specific industry sources may have the wrong end of the memory card – but they claim that DDR5’s price tags will drop sharply as the rest of 2022 is on.
Sources note that while DDR5 used to be three times the size of DDR4, now the market has improved to double for manufacturers selling memory chips – and in retail, DDR5 RAM whipping is apparently “almost a waste of money.”
In the manufacturing realm, DDR5 contract prices have dropped by 20% compared to the 10% to 15% drop for DDR4, and further DDR5 price drops are expected in 2023. Indeed, the report claims that next year will be the “sweet spot” for DDR5 RAM prices.
Analysis: Cheaper DDR5 and faster DDR5 in preparation
We’ve already seen DDR5 prices drop significantly this year, so news of further drops will of course be music to consumers’ ears. Especially those who are opting for a new platform with an Intel Alder Lake processor, and later this year the upcoming Raptor Lake and AMD Ryzen 7000 chips, as all of these platforms support DDR5.
Obviously, this is the expected trajectory when the new RAM standard emerges, and it happened with DDR4 when it was introduced. First, RAM is prohibitive and the cost drops to a more affordable level (not to mention the faster modules that are introduced as the technology matures).
How much will DDR5 prices drop? Well, the mention of the sweet spot for 2023 points to a price normalization down towards the DDR4 level next year, which would certainly be good to see.
With Black Friday not too far off right now, and these visible price drops are on the way, we wouldn’t bet there will be some pretty tasty deals on the horizon for DDR5 memory.
By Tom’s gear (opens in a new tab)