Laptop component costs rising sharply

A figure has been circulating for several days: in a laptop priced at 900 euros, the processor, RAM, and SSD account for 68% of the cost. This figure comes from the Taiwanese analysis firm TrendForce, which published it in a note on October 8.

Cost breakdown and industry model

The figure refers to the cost of the components, which the industry calls the bill of materials (or BOM). The retail price adds to this bill the assembly, transportation, and margins. The reason for discussing this is that these three components are all increasing at the moment. A manufacturer whose two-thirds of its bill is rising has few areas left to compensate.

TrendForce's reference model

TrendForce has followed the same reference model since the beginning of 2025: a mainstream laptop sold for 900 dollars (approximately 800 euros before taxes). At that time, the processor, memory, and SSD accounted for 45% of the component bill. The share of each of the three components is not published. The firm also calculated that a brand would have to sell the same laptop approximately 80% more expensive in the third quarter of 2026 to maintain its gross margin from the beginning of 2025. This is a theoretical margin calculation.

Memory and SSD price increases

Memory increased first. In January, TrendForce predicted a 55 to 60% increase in DRAM (random access memory) prices in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the previous quarter. The SSDs of mainstream PCs were expected to increase by at least 40% during the same period. Why such a rise? Memory manufacturers are reserving their factories for AI servers and HBM, the stacked memory of AI accelerators, at the expense of mainstream volumes. And it will not get better, since Anthropic and OpenAI want to buy their RAM directly and Micron predicts no decrease before 2028.

Processor price hikes follow

Processors follow. According to the Taiwanese daily Commercial Times, Qualcomm has been increasing the price of its Snapdragon X and X2 Elite chips by 10% since October. Intel has already raised its prices in September, by 15 to 20% on the Panther Lake equipped with the largest integrated graphics. AMD is also preparing increases, without confirmed amounts or dates so far. A 10% increase on its processors and graphics cards was already mentioned. The cause is the prices of foundries (the factories that manufacture the chips) and those of the components used to assemble them.

Manufacturers face tough choices

These increases are happening at the same time. This means that a manufacturer can no longer compensate for the rise in memory prices with a cheaper processor. In 2027, it will be necessary to choose between price, specifications, and margin. The remaining 32% of the bill covers the screen, battery, chassis, or motherboard. However, TrendForce points out tensions on printed circuits, small MLCC capacitors, and power management chips. So far, brands have held on thanks to cheaper stocks purchased, but these stocks are running out.

Predictions for the future

For TrendForce, they will not be able to maintain their prices, specifications, and profitability in 2027. The firm therefore predicts a slight decrease in global laptop shipments next year, close to 10% if the increases are fully passed on to prices. On the other hand, Acer hopes to emerge from the crisis in early 2027.

Broader trends in consumer electronics

Smartphones have taken the same path: prices are rising and quality is decreasing, and Samsung will produce 30% fewer smartphones. On desktop PCs, graphics cards have already seen their prices soar. If you buy a laptop, look first at the amount of RAM. TrendForce cites it as the characteristic that brands will reduce first to contain their costs. Also compare the price of each gigabyte as an option, as was done for the Surface Laptop Ultra. The firm does not expect any relief on SSDs before the second half of 2027, and DRAM should remain scarce.