Supply and demand is not only about what consumers want but also about who gets priority when a critical component becomes scarce. Right now, AI is pulling memory into data centers, high margin infrastructure and that shift matters for regular people. If memory stays expensive, consumer tech does not disappear, but the market changes shape; prices rise and choices narrow. The lowest cost options are the first to go; after that scarcity shows up affordable options no longer available or products suddenly costing more.
These shifts do not stay contained inside the tech industry but ripple into computers and phones, then into the broader consumer electronics ecosystem. Over time, the result can look like fewer mid-range choices, smaller storage tiers, weaker discount and delayed availability, especially when the same memory supply chain is being pulled toward AI demand.
The moment I realized this would hit regular people was when I read a reported warning from the CEO of Phison, a company that specializes in memory and storage. The warning, as summarized and translated in reporting, was shocking: consumer electronics could see a large number of failures by the end of 2026 because vendors may go bankrupt or exit product lines due to a lack of memory. The report also claimed mobile phone production could be reduced by 200 to 250 million units, with PC and TV production significantly reduced. Those numbers come from a summarized and translated interview, so I am not treating them as guaranteed outcomes but the message is worth paying attention to. When memory becomes the choke point, consumer tech becomes more expensive, less flexible and scarce.
The real bottleneck is memory
When most people think about “chips,” they think about processors but memory is extremely important. Memory includes DRAM, which supports performance and NAND flash, which supports storage. AI systems consume enormous amounts of both because you need it for training, inference, storage and data center expansion; all this relies on memory.
Micron has said tight conditions across DRAM and NAND are expected to persist through and beyond 2026 as AI drives demand. That signals this is not a short inconvenience that resets next quarter, it is a structural shift that can keep consumer side of the market on hold for years.
Even if you do not care about AI, AI can still change what you pay for a laptop, phone or personal computer, video game system etc. They all share the same component ecosystem and when the highest margin buyers absorb supply, the consumer market becomes the place where tradeoffs begin.
What scarcity looks like for consumers
When people hear “shortage,” they imagine empty shelves and granted sometimes that happens but before that scarcity usually arrives as disappearance of items first.
- Availability gets strange. The product exists, but the configuration you want is missing; things like higher storage option become harder to find and models in some cases are on backordered longer than normal.
- Prices shift. Not only the sticker price, but the deals. There are no longer discounts and promotions become non-existent. Bottom line the more affordable product in some cases will costs more than it did the year before.
- Choice narrows. Brands simplify lineups because low margin tiers become risky when parts are unstable. This is how the affordable end gets squeezed out too.
You can currently see this now with personal computers and mid-range phones.
Personal computers and laptops
PCs sit directly in the blast radius because they rely heavily on both DRAM and NAND and many systems also depend on GPUs. When memory prices rise and supply tightens, PC manufacturers feel it fast. Lenovo, the world’s largest PC maker, warned that a worsening memory chip shortage driven largely by high AI demand is creating mounting pressure on PC shipments. Lenovo also said it has raised prices to offset rising memory costs.
If a company at that scale is warning about pressure and raising prices, smaller vendors and lower priced product lines will feel it even more. That is where the consumer experience changes. A laptop that used to feel attainable starts landing hundreds of dollars higher. Part of that can be memory and storage cost and part can be the broader pricing pressure across components, including GPUs. The result is not only higher prices but fewer meaningful options at the middle of the market, because the middle is where consumers expect value and value is the hardest thing to maintain under tight supply.
Mid-range phones
Mid-range phones are supposed to be a more affordable choice; this is the option people go to when they want something reliable instead of paying premium prices. That is also exactly why they are vulnerable.
Mid-range models live on thin margins and high volume, when memory and storage become more expensive. The result can be fewer models, smaller storage tiers or a mid-range phone that costs closer to what a premium phone used to cost.
You might be ready to buy a new phone and expect the newest model to be easy to find at normal pricing. Instead you find it is harder to locate, backordered or priced higher than expected. That is what scarcity looks like: less availability plus higher price, not just a headline.
Apple as a case study in how scarcity can change the release cycle
People assume Apple is immune to supply chain problems but even Apple has to adjust their strategy when supply chain instability and rising component costs become a risk.
According to Reuters, Apple may prioritize the production and launch of three premium iPhone models in 2026 while delaying the standard iPhone 18 to the first half of 2027. This shift is due to supply chain challenges and rising costs for memory chips and materials.
It does not mean Apple stops releasing iPhones. It means the standard model can arrive later while premium models are prioritized first. Now when you add configuration constraints, you get another scarcity pattern: higher storage options can be harder to find and more expensive.
What to Watch For
This is not a warning but a framework for understanding what you are seeing and will be seeing more of.
Here are the signals that tell you the scarcity ripple effect is spreading:
- New devices are harder to find at launch or backordered longer than normal.
- Storage upgrades cost more and higher storage configurations are harder to get.
- Mid-range options shrink and “good deals” become harder to find.
- Discounts get weaker, less frequent and less meaningful.
- One tier items, this means buyers are pushed toward premium tiers.
The long run point
This is what happens when infrastructure demand outruns consumer supply. Supply and demand does not only respond to what consumers want but it responds to who gets priority, who signs the largest contracts and who pays the highest price.
If you are planning to buy a PC, a laptop, or a phone and you can afford to make a smart purchase now, it may be worth doing. Not because the future is guaranteed to be worse, but because the industry signals are already pointing to tight conditions driven by AI buildout and memory constraints.
At minimum, pay attention. If you see prices rising and availability shrinking, you are not imagining it. You are watching the scarcity ripple effect in real time.
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Shaunta Garth is a Strategic Communications & Visibility Architect specializing in digital storytelling, media strategy and public affairs.