If you thought graphics cards were once the hottest loot in tech thefts, 2026 has a new villain of the moment — RAM. In a bizarre yet telling incident reported on a Korean public forum, a thief broke into an office, shattered the tempered glass of a desktop PC, and walked away with just one thing: the memory modules. The computer itself? Left untouched.
Welcome to the era where RAM sticks can be worth more than
the PC they’re installed in.
A Crime That Explains the Crisis
The stolen hardware consisted of four 32GB Micron RAM
modules — small, light, easy to pocket, and shockingly valuable. With memory
prices soaring, replacing them now costs far more than when the system was
insured. The company’s insurer, according to the victim, is struggling to
compensate because today’s RAM prices are wildly higher than even a few months
ago.
From a criminal’s point of view, it was a smart move. Full
PCs are bulky, traceable, and difficult to resell. RAM, on the other hand, is
discreet, universally compatible, and fetches premium prices on the secondary
market. Forum commenters noted that the thief clearly knew exactly what they
were looking for — and why.
Why RAM Prices Have Gone Off the Rails
This isn’t your usual boom-and-bust semiconductor cycle. The
current RAM shortage is being driven by a structural shift in the memory
industry, largely powered by AI.
The explosive growth of AI models has created an insatiable
demand for High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a specialized form of DRAM essential
for AI accelerators in data centers. To chase higher margins, memory giants
like Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have redirected massive portions of their
production capacity away from consumer DDR4 and DDR5 RAM and toward HBM.
At the same time, manufacturers are being cautious. After
burning their fingers during the 2022–2023 downturn, they’re reluctant to
expand standard DRAM capacity too quickly. Add to that the fact that
pandemic-era inventory buffers have completely dried up — and you have a
perfect storm.
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Consumers Feel the Heat
For everyday users, the impact is brutal. Consumer RAM
prices have quadrupled in some markets, outpacing price hikes seen in CPUs,
GPUs, or storage. High-capacity modules — including 128GB and 256GB sticks —
are now selling for thousands of dollars.
This price shock has even changed how people think about PCsecurity. Some users are ditching glass side panels for solid metal cases,
while others are physically locking down systems to prevent internal component
theft.
What Happens Next?
Industry analysts warn that relief won’t come soon. With AI
demand still accelerating, the RAM crunch could stretch into 2027 or even 2028.
Until then, memory will remain expensive, scarce — and, apparently, tempting
enough to steal.
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In 2026, RAM isn’t just a component anymore. It’s currency.
By Aaradhay Sharma
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