RAM now represents 35 percent of bill of materials for HP PCs

February 26, 2026

Here's something that might surprise you — RAM now makes up about 35% of the total cost of HP's PCs. That’s a huge jump from just 15-18% in recent years, and it’s all thanks to this ongoing memory shortage. According to Scharon Harding reporting for Ars Technica, HP’s CFO Karen Parkhill explained that memory prices have doubled in just a single quarter. And get this — she says they’re expected to go even higher as the year progresses. Now, here’s where it gets interesting — this surge in RAM costs isn’t just bad news for HP. It’s part of a bigger trend that's squeezing margins across the tech industry, especially as customer demand softens due to rising prices. What Scharon Harding points out is that this isn’t just about one company; it’s a sign of how supply chain issues are reshaping the entire PC market. So, the next time you see a new laptop, remember — RAM costs are a big reason it might be more expensive than ever.

In an illustration of the severity of the current memory shortage, HP Inc. CFO Karen Parkhill said that RAM has gone from accounting for “roughly 15 percent to 18 percent” of HP PCs’ bill of materials in its fiscal Q4 2025 to “roughly 35 percent” for the rest of the year.

Parkhill was speaking during HP’s Q1 2026 earnings call, where the company said it expects the total addressable market for its Personal Systems business to decline by double digits this calendar year, as higher prices hurt customer demand.

“We have seen memory costs increase roughly 100 percent sequentially, and we do forecast that to further increase as we move into the fiscal year,” Parkhill said, per a transcript of the call by Seeking Alpha.

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