In a world where memory is no longer a commodity but a strategically valuable asset, customers are eager to sign long-term supply agreements (LTAs) with their suppliers to ensure a steady supply of 3D NAND and/or DRAM. Micron this week announced that it had signed 16 strategic customer agreements (SCAs), 14 of which are worth around $100 billion. Furthermore, the company expects to receive cash deposits and other commitments worth $22 billion, but has warned there is no foreseeable end in sight to the RAM crisis driving up PC component prices.
“14 of the 16 SCAs that we have signed have a cumulative revenue at minimum price per our contracts of approximately $100 billion over the remaining agreement term,” a statement by Micron reads. “Under the SCAs we have signed so far, we project to receive cash deposits and related financial commitments of $22 billion.”
Based on Micron’s claims, the company has about $100 billion of guaranteed baseline revenue already locked in under 14 of those 16 strategic customer agreements, assuming customers only buy the minimum committed volumes and only pay the minimum contract price. In reality, Micron can earn more if customers buy higher volumes or pay higher prices. Furthermore, Micron expects customers who signed these long-term SCAs to put up real money up front — or make equivalent binding financial commitments — as part of reserving future memory supply.
Micron claims it has signed strategic customer agreements with four 'very large customers' and three 'medium-sized customers,' which means that the contracts were inked with clients that previously did not commit to LTAs. The contracts are signed with a five-year term (except the automotive LTAs, which have a term of three years), from calendar 2026 to calendar 2030.
Micron claims that memory supply will be insufficient in 2027 and may improve gradually only in 2028. To that end, it is not surprising that its clients are willing to sign LTAs for 3D NAND and DRAM to ensure that they have enough memory for their products.
"With respect to supply, our customers are recognizing that supply shortages in memory and storage will take considerable time to improve," said Sanjay Mehrotra, chief executive of Micron, in prepared remarks. "Even as we expect industry supply to improve gradually in 2028, we currently do not have line of sight as to when memory supply will be able to catch up with increasing demand."
Normally, Micron and other memory producers inked LTAs with select clients only (read: with Apple, Nvidia). 16 LTAs is a lot for this kind of arrangement, and this looks like a business model shift for the company. It is noteworthy that the 16 signed contracts represent roughly 20% of Micron's DRAM volume and 33% of the company's NAND volume over the period through 2030. That said, Micron may sign more LTAs with more companies.
We're keeping a close eye on deals during Amazon Prime Day 2026 to find any RAM bargains to be had and adding them to the constantly-updated list below. RAM is expensive right now, but the brutal fact is that it is only going to get more expensive in the months ahead. Inflation on prices is making it hard to find value in the memory market, but there are some deals you can still buy. You might be holding off for the market to stabilize, but signs indicate this problem is going to get worse in 2027, not better. You can also find good deals, often yielding the lowest overall RAM pricing, if you check our Prime Day RAM bundle page. There, we list combo deals that involve buying multiple items, like a CPU, motherboard, and RAM together, that then yield lower overall pricing.
Because the RAM market is very volatile right now, these deals tend to move quickly, so it's a good idea to act sooner rather than later so you don't miss out on a great opportunity. We're updating this page constantly to keep the deals fresh, but you will have to act fast to snag the last deals on memory we will likely see for at least a year, if not longer.
We've put together a handpicked list of the best options to make your shopping easier. We carefully review offers from different retailers to find the best value for you, drawing on our extensive experience from thorough reviews, detailed benchmarks, and analysis of past prices. We keep a close eye on the latest RAM deals as they come up, highlighting the top choices we've found across various stores.
A performance DDR5-6000 memory kit for those who need more speed than baseline DDR5. It also supports AMD EXPO. View Deal
This 32GB Corsair Vengeance kit runs at DDR5-6000, which is plenty for almost any desktop system, and features CL36 timings. View Deal
A 32GB memory kit that runs at DDR5-6000. It features 36-36-36-76 timings and requires 1.25V. Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO support is present. Use promo code FTTF359 at checkout.View Deal
A memory kit that runs at DDR5-6000 with 38-38-38-78 timings and a 1.25V DRAM voltage. It supports both Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO. Use promo code FTTF4657 at checkout.View Deal
Crucial has exited the consumer memory business, but they are still selling out stock and will honor all warranties. This Pro kit comes from a trusted brand and features DDR4-3200 at C22 timings. View Deal
A 64GB memory kit that sticks to DDR5-5200 and 40-40-40-77 timings. It runs at a default DRAM voltage of 1.25V and features Intel XMP 3.0 support.View Deal
A 48GB memory kit that's certified to run at DDR5-6400 with timings set to 32-39-39-84. It runs at 1.35V with Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO support.View Deal
A 128GB memory kit that's certified to run at DDR5-6400 with timings configured to 42-52-52-104. It runs at 1.35V and only supports Intel XMP 3.0.View Deal
This PNY kit isn't going to set world records, but this is a great way to get DDR4-3200 on the cheap. If the silicon lottery shines upon you, you might be able to squeeze out a decent overclock on this kit, too. View Deal
This barebones Ripjaws kit runs at DDR4-2400 at CL17. If the silicon lottery shines upon you, you might be able to squeeze out a decent overclock on this kit, too. View Deal
A massive 96GB memory kit that functions at DDR5-6400. The timings are configured to 32-39-39-84 and require 1.4V to run. It supports Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO.View Deal
This budget-friendly memory kit offers good performance and attractive looks. It supports Intel XMP 3.0 and AMD EXPO technologies, making setup quick and easy with just one click.View Deal
A 64GB memory kit is fantastic for multitasking and tackling memory-heavy tasks. Plus, it’s super simple to set up on both AMD and Intel systems, so you'll be up and running in no time.View Deal
This Newegg offer lets you save a tasty $50 on 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5-6000 RAM from Teamgroup. Perfect for a small gaming PC setup.
This 48GB kit of Corsair Vengeance RGB has a slower 5,200 MT/s transfer speed, but it's cheaper than its 32GB counterpart and comes with a decent 38 CAS latency. View Deal
This high-capacity memory kit is perfect for anyone who needs plenty of memory for those heavy workloads! It works great with both AMD and Intel systems, so that you can power through your tasks with ease.View Deal
DDR5 RAM Deals
Don’t miss out on this Tom’s Hardware Premium. Get a full year of access for just $29, or from $7 per-month. Get daily news analysis, deep dives into specialist topics in the semiconductor industry, as well as access to Bench, the largest benchmarking database around.View Deal
The Flare X5 is the ultimate memory kit to boost your memory capacity on a dual-DIMM motherboard. It's AMD EXPO-certified, giving you added confidence in its performance. View Deal
DDR4 RAM Deals
A decent 32GB memory kit that runs at DDR4-3000 and 16-18-18-36 timings. It pulls 1.35V of DRAM voltage and is specifically optimized for AMD systems.View Deal
A 16GB memory kit with DDR5-3200 data rate and timings binned to 16-18-18-38. It requires a DRAM voltage of 1.35V and supports Intel XMP 2.0.View Deal
This memory kit is fast and comes with a generous capacity, making it a wonderful choice if you need a lot of RAM for your work. View Deal
PNY may not be a household name for RAM, but this DDR4-3200 32GB (2x16GB) memory kit is an affordable choice, especially for giving some older systems a fresh boost.View Deal
DDR2 contract prices rose 55% to 60% in the second quarter of the year and are projected to climb another 35% to 40% in the third, according to research published this week by TrendForce, pushing the AI-driven memory shortage onto a standard that first shipped in 2003 and that the three largest DRAM makers stopped prioritizing years ago. The increases come from buyers redesigning products around older memory to secure supply, and from a split among the handful of remaining DDR2 suppliers, with Winbond reducing output as ESMT expands it.
The shortage hasn’t hit DDR2 directly, but Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron have steered wafer capacity toward HBM and server DRAM to feed AI infrastructure spending, thinning the supply of mature-node parts, including DDR4. As DDR4 tightened, OEMs and ODMs began specifying DDR3 in its place, and some DDR3 designs were reworked to use DDR2, with each tier of buyers chasing whatever generation it could still source. The result of this is shortages moving down through successive generations, something we saw unfolding back in March, when earlier data showed DDR3 and DDR2 prices rising 20% to 40% in a single month.
This continues the market inversion we’ve watched unfold throughout the year, as DDR4 climbed past DDR5 on price despite being slower and older, and in which module makers and motherboard vendors restarted DDR4 production after the big three had moved to wind it down.
Winbond and ESMT are the two main remaining sources of DDR2 components, and they’re responding to the squeeze in different ways. Winbond is gradually cutting DDR2 production to shift capacity toward higher-margin DDR3, DDR4, and LPDDR4, while ESMT is doing the reverse, concentrating its wafer allocation at foundry partner PSMC on DDR2 to capture the demand Winbond is tossing aside. Taiwanese suppliers, including Nanya, are already struggling to match the volume of orders migrating down from DDR4, and because new capacity depends on slow process migration, Winbond's withdrawal removes supply faster than ESMT can replace it.
Of course, today’s PCs don’t use DDR2, so we’re likely to see the impact of these price increases landing in areas like embedded systems, networking equipment, industrial controllers, automotive electronics, and other long-lived devices that were designed around it and are too costly to requalify on newer memory generations like DDR4 and five.
The spread of rising contract prices to DDR2 suggests that we’re staring down the barrel of a very long-term DRAM shortage. Contract prices across the wider market are still rising with no sign of levelling off, and meaningful new capacity isn’t expected until late 2027 at the earliest as a best-case scenario.
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