LAS VEGAS: As devices from toys to cars get smarter at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), gadget makers are grappling with a shortage of memory needed for them to work.

Dwindling supplies and soaring costs of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) that provides space for computers, smartphones, and game consoles to run applications or multitask was a hot topic behind the scenes at the annual gadget extravaganza in Las Vegas.

Once cheap and plentiful, DRAM — along with memory chips to simply store data — are in short supply because of the demand spikes from AI in everything from data centers to wearable devices.

Samsung Electronics on Thursday put out word that it expects sales revenue in the final quarter of last year to surge to 93 trillion Korean won as prices of memory chips surge along with demand.

US-based Micron Technology, which makes advanced semiconductor memory and storage products, reported record revenue of $13.6 billion in its last fiscal quarter, compared with $8.7 billion in the same period a year earlier.

The revenue surge is fueld by an unprecedented memory chip shortage which, according to market tracker IDC, could persist well into next year.

The reason for the shortfall cited by experts is that DRAM and memory chip makers have shifted manufacturing capacity to cater to AI data centers.

Meanwhile, AI features being added to all kinds of products have increased the need for DRAM and memory in devices from laptops to smart rings.

“An AI infrastructure boom has now rippled outward,” IDC analysts said in a blog post.

“For consumers and enterprises alike, this signals the end of an era of cheap, abundant memory and storage.” Costs of computers, drives and memory cards have already risen for consumers, according to Other World Computing founder and chief Larry O’Connor.

Sniff not bark

Gadget makers are adapting to the shortage by either paying premiums for DRAM and memory, redesigning their products, or foregoing some features, according to Michal Siwinski of Arteris, which specializes in providing connectivity inside chips.

“Maybe the (robotic) dog you’ll get will sniff around and roll over, but it’s not going to bark a serenade because it doesn’t have enough memory,” Siwinski said.

The shortage is already forcing efficiencies such as engineers writing tighter code to use less memory, according to O’Connor. “These aren’t bad things; they should have already happened,” O’Connor said.

“The industry has been built around cheap software that has become very bloated over the last 20 years.”

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026