Topic
The market price of DRAM memory and SSD storage, a key cost driver for PCs and laptops; shortages and rising prices shape device specs, pricing and shipments.
Gartner and IDC both put Q3 2026 global PC shipments down more than 20% year on year, at 55.4 million and 62.7 million units. IDC expects prices to hold at these levels, so refresh budgets should assume dearer machines and fewer cheap models.
Reality
Valve opened Steam Frame reservations at $1,059, and its engineers say standalone play runs the same SteamOS as the Deck on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with Proton and PC streaming absorbing the compatibility work.
Perspective Coverage
5 publishersReality
PCMag's $2,899 test unit took its Editors' Choice award, and the review credits the result to memory speed over raw capacity while memory is in short supply. The upgrade ladder tops out at 64GB.
Reality
The Verge tested 8GB and 16GB XPS 13 units, both with 512GB SSDs, and recommended the $999.99 one. Dell has since moved the $699.99 entry price onto a 256GB machine and added $100 to both tested builds.
Reality
MSI pairs a current RTX 5060 with a last-generation Core i7, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD at $1,300. Spec the 2026 refresh on the parts that got trimmed, not the one on the sticker.
Reality