In an example of the severity of the current memory shortage, HP Inc. CFO Karen Parkhill said RAM is projected to account for “about 15 percent to 18 percent” of HP PCs’ bill of materials in its fiscal Q4 2025, rising to “about 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 weigh on customer demand.
“We have seen memory costs increase nearly 100 percent sequentially, and we anticipate further increases as we move into the fiscal year,” Parkhill said, according to a transcript of the call obtained by Seeking Alpha.
HP expects its financial position to be most affected by the RAM shortage in the second half of the fiscal year.
“We are seeing increased input costs primarily due to rising prices of DRAM and NAND,” said Bruce Broussard, interim CEO and director of HP. “We expect this volatility to continue throughout the financial year [year 2026] and possibly in fiscal [year 2027]”
Prices are high, specifications are low due to lack of RAM
HP’s CFO said one-third of margins for HP’s personal systems business come from non-RAM-related categories, including IT services and peripherals. However, HP has also increased PC prices to make money while paying significantly more for RAM.
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