The malaise is no longer limited to graphics cards; the entire PC sector is now showing signs of significant strain. According to recent data, processor sales in the United States have experienced a dramatic 47% drop compared to the previous year. This decline marks the beginning of a critical phase for the personal computer industry.
An analysis indicates that over the past three months, US sales platforms have recorded a nearly fifty percent decrease in CPU sales. While online statistics can sometimes present variations, this downward trend is now undeniable and concerning.
The primary culprit for this situation is the skyrocketing prices of Random Access Memory (RAM) and NAND storage solutions, whose costs have increased by several hundred percent in many regions. This escalation makes assembling new PCs unsustainable, as memory and storage now represent a disproportionate share of the total cost, often several times higher than that of other components.
It is therefore not surprising that consumers are adopting a wait-and-see approach, preferring to keep their existing hardware, opt for older components, or simply postpone their upgrades. This situation has made budget-limited configurations the new standard, with increasing popularity for previous-generation processors in stores worldwide.
In essence, the rise of artificial intelligence continues to exert suffocating pressure on the consumer hardware market. Several experts predict that this trend will unfortunately persist, and may even intensify.