RAM Prices Are Going Crazy in 2026. Should You Buy Your Next Lenovo ThinkPad Now?

If a laptop refresh is already approved and the machines you are replacing are slowing your people down, buying now is the safer choice. Waiting is a bet that prices will fall, and nobody can promise that. Contract prices for memory chips roughly tripled across late 2025 and early 2026. Analysts at TrendForce expect smaller rises in the second half of 2026, and the three big memory makers say supply stays tight into 2027 and beyond. Either way, a budget approved last year buys fewer laptops today. At SourceIT the ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 with Core Ultra 7 255H, 16GB and 512GB is S$2,732.88, the ThinkPad T14 Gen 7 with Core Ultra 5 325, 16GB, 512GB and 3-year onsite warranty is S$2,301.00 and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 with Core Ultra 7 355, 16GB and 512GB is S$5,442.16 (listed 3 Nov 2026). If your current fleet is healthy, waiting is still a reasonable call. Just do not wait expecting prices to fall.

What has actually happened to memory prices?

Source: TrendForce press releases on the dates shown. Contract prices are what PC makers pay memory suppliers, not what you pay for a laptop. Compounding the two actual quarters gives roughly 2.8 to 3 times the late-2025 level; that is our arithmetic on TrendForce's ranges. TrendForce had not published a Q1 2027 forecast as of 3 Nov 2026.

Have laptop prices followed?

Yes, though not one-for-one, because memory is only part of a laptop's cost. In February 2026 HP said memory had gone from 15–18% of a PC's build cost to about 35% in a single quarter (Tom's Hardware, 26 Feb 2026). Reuters reported on 13 August 2026 that Lenovo "has raised PC prices twice this year" to offset memory costs. Its chief executive, Yang Yuanqing, said "every average selling price is going higher".

In Singapore, The Straits Times reported on 13 September 2026 that, according to IDC, the average regular laptop cost S$1,650 in Q2 2026, up 26% on a year earlier. Shipments fell as prices rose. Gartner's preliminary count put worldwide PC shipments in Q3 2026 at 55.4 million, down 22.4%, and IDC's at 62.7 million, down 20.1%. Gartner's Namrata Banerjee said: "The impact of higher memory and storage costs is now fully reflected in PC pricing." Lenovo still led both counts, with 27.1% share on Gartner's figures and 23.8% on IDC's.

What do analysts and memory makers expect next?

The forecasts point to smaller increases, not to falls. TrendForce's forecast for contract prices is +13% to +18% for Q3 2026 and +10% to +15% for Q4 2026. HP's chief financial officer, Karen Parkhill, said in late August that input costs would keep rising "but at a slower rate". On the supply side, Micron's chief executive, Sanjay Mehrotra, said on 30 September that supply and demand in its 2027 and 2028 fiscal years would be "much tighter" than in 2026. Samsung said on 29 October that it expects supply to tighten further in 2027. IDC told The Straits Times it expects prices to stay elevated through 2027, with only slight easing likely in the second half of 2027 and meaningful easing more likely from 2028.

There is a counterweight. IDC's Jitesh Ubrani said in October that channel partners are wary of holding stock "into a market where high prices are suppressing demand", and that promotions are possible in the near term. These are forecasts and opinions, dated and attributed. We do not know which way list prices will move next month, and neither does anyone quoting a single number with certainty.

The question is not "will prices fall?" but "what does waiting cost us while we find out?"

When does buying now make sense?

You are still running Windows 10. Support ended on 14 October 2025. Microsoft's commercial Extended Security Updates cost US$61 per device in the first year and US$122 in the second year, which started in October 2026. That is a cost you pay for keeping old hardware, before counting the risk. Our guide to operating system end of support covers the options.

The budget is approved and the quotation is valid. Vendors have shortened how long their quotes hold. HPE cut its quote validity from 30 to 14 days, and Dell says its quotes are valid for "the shortest period of time they've ever been". An approved budget that sits for a quarter may buy less when you return to it. We explain why in why your ThinkPad quotation keeps changing.

Machines are failing or slowing people down. Lost hours cost money too, and a laptop that fails without a replacement is the most expensive kind of waiting.

You are buying a model with soldered memory. On the X1 Carbon, X13 and T14s Gen 7, memory cannot be added later, so choose the amount carefully on day one. Our 32GB dilemma guide shows which ThinkPads can be upgraded.

When is it reasonable to wait?

If your laptops run Windows 11, are under warranty and are not holding anyone back, there is no prize for buying early. Gartner forecast in February that business buyers would keep PCs about 15% longer, so many companies are making that choice. A memory or SSD upgrade can buy a working laptop another year or two. Our guide on upgrading before replacing explains when that works. A middle path is to replace only the machines that are failing or out of support now and schedule the rest. That spreads the risk instead of betting the whole budget on one month's price. For larger fleets, see should a Singapore SME buy 50 ThinkPads now.

Buying in Singapore

All of these are in stock at SourceIT at prices listed on 3 Nov 2026:

• ThinkPad T14 Gen 7 Core Ultra 5 325, 16GB, 512GB, 3Y Onsite (S$2,301.00)
• ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 Core Ultra 7 255H, 16GB, 512GB (S$2,732.88)
• The same E14 with 32GB (S$3,256.80)
• ThinkPad E14 Gen 8 Core Ultra 5 325, 16GB, 512GB (S$2,776.54)
• ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Core Ultra 7 355, 16GB, 512GB (S$5,442.16)

Browse the ThinkPad E Series and ThinkPad T Series collections. AMD ThinkPads are not in stock at the moment, so ask us about availability. Before a bulk order, our procurement checklist is worth ten minutes. For a quotation with a stated validity date, use Request for Quotation on the product page, call (65) 6978 3502, email Sales@sourceit.com.sg or use our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Will ThinkPad prices go down in 2026? Nobody can say for certain. TrendForce forecasts smaller memory price rises in Q3 and Q4 2026, not falls, and IDC told The Straits Times it expects prices to stay elevated through 2027.

How much have memory prices risen? TrendForce reports conventional DRAM contract prices rose 45–50% in Q4 2025 and about 93–98% in Q1 2026, quarter on quarter.

Has Lenovo raised ThinkPad prices? Reuters reported on 13 August 2026 that Lenovo had raised PC prices twice this year to offset memory costs.

Should we buy all our laptops at once? Not necessarily. Replacing machines that are failing or still on Windows 10 now, and scheduling the rest, spreads the risk without betting on a price direction.

Is it better to buy more memory now? On models with soldered memory, such as the X1 Carbon, X13 and T14s Gen 7, yes, because it cannot be added later. On models with memory slots, you have the option to upgrade later.