In an announcement today, Ben Yeh, principal analyst at technology research firm Omdia, said that in 2025, “mainstream PC memory and storage costs rose by 40 percent to 70 percent, resulting in cost increases being passed through to customers.”
Overall, global PC shipments increased in 2025, according to Omdia, (which pegged growth at 9.2 percent compared to 2024), and IDC, (which today reported 9.6 percent growth), but analysts expect PC sales to be more tumultuous in 2026.
“The year ahead is shaping up to be extremely volatile,” Jean Philippe Bouchard, research VP with IDC’s worldwide mobile device trackers, said in a statement.
Both analyst firms expect PC makers to manage the RAM shortage by raising prices and by releasing computers with lower memory specs. IDC expects price hikes of 15 to 20 percent and for PC RAM specs to “be lowered on average to preserve memory inventory on hand,” Bouchard said. Omdia’s Yeh expects “leaner mid to low-tier configurations to protect margins.”
“These RAM shortages will last beyond just 2026, and the cost-conscious part of the market is the one that will be most impacted,” Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for worldwide mobile device trackers at IDC, told Ars via email.
IDC expects vendors to “prioritize midrange and premium systems to offset higher component costs, especially memory.”
This means that there won’t be any more Dell XPS clamshell ultralight laptops, 2-in-1 laptops, or desktops. Dell is also killing its Latitude, Inspiron, and Precision branding, it announced today.
Moving forward, Dell computers will have either just Dell branding, which Dell’s announcement today described as “designed for play, school, and work,” Dell Pro branding “for professional-grade productivity,” or be Dell Pro Max products, which are “designed for maximum performance.” Dell will release Dell and Dell Pro-branded displays, accessories, and “services,” it said. The Pro Max line will feature laptops and desktop workstations with professional-grade GPU capabilities as well as a new thermal design.
Dell claims its mid-tier Pro line emphasizes durability, “withstanding three times as many hinge cycles, drops, and bumps from regular use as competitor devices.” The statement is based on “internal analysis of multiple durability tests performed” on the Dell Pro 14 Plus (released today) and HP EliteBook 640 G11 laptops conducted in November. Also based on internal testing conducted in November, Dell claims its Pro PCs boost “airflow by 20 percent, making these Dell’s quietest commercial laptops ever.”
Within each line are base models, Plus models, and Premium models. In a blog post, Kevin Terwilliger, VP and GM of commercial, consumer, and gaming PCs at Dell, explained that Plus models offer “the most scalable performance” and Premium models offer “the ultimate in mobility and design.”
Credit: Dell
By those naming conventions, old-time Dell users could roughly equate XPS laptops with new Dell Premium products.
“The Dell portfolio will expand later this year to include more AMD and Snapdragon X Series processor options,” Terwilliger wrote. “We will also introduce new devices in the base tier, which offers everyday devices that provide effortless use and practical design, and the Premium tier, which continues the XPS legacy loved by consumers and prosumers alike.”
Meanwhile, Dell Pro base models feel like Dell’s now-defunct Latitude lineup, while its Precision workstations may best align with 2025’s Dell Pro Max offerings.
Enlarge/ NZXT’s subscription program charges $169/month for this build.
NZXT, which sells gaming PCs, components, and peripherals, has a subscription program that charges a monthly fee to rent one of its gaming desktops. Subscribers don’t own the computers and receive an upgraded rental system every two years.
NZXT’s Flex program subscription prices range from $49 to $169 per month, depending on the specs of the system, as you can see below:
Enlarge/ The footnote is: “Specs of PCs subject to change based on availability.”
NZXT
There’s also a one-time setup and shipping fee for the rentals that totals $50. NZXT says it will “likely” charge subscribers a separate fee if they return the rental without the original box and packaging (NZXT hasn’t disclosed how much).
The systems received, per NZXT’s website, will be “new or like-new.” Users may get refurbished systems and should check their rental for any defects, per subscription agreement terms from Fragile, which helps manage the subscription service.
NZXT says subscribers get 24/7 customer support with their subscription. The Irvine, California-headquartered company also says that there are no cancellation fees, and subscribers get a prepaid return label with their rental system. As noted by The Verge, NZXT started promoting Flex as early as February; it’s unclear how much interest it has garnered.
Per the subscription agreement, users can be charged the full retail value of the system if it’s returned damaged or altered (self-upgrades/repairs have limits) and monthly interest rates of 8 percent if they stop paying the monthly fee for over 60 days.
Who’s this for?
In an announcement Wednesday, NZXT looked to frame Flex as a way to make PC gaming more accessible and highlighted use cases where it thinks rental PCs make sense.
In a shared statement, the CEO of esports team FlyQuest suggested there’s a place for rental PCs in esports, which often relies on expensive gear delivered through sponsorships. In a statement, Brian Anderson said: “New hardware is being released frequently, and having access to industry-leading products is vital to staying competitive. NZXT Flex provides us with the confidence that we’ll always have access to the top-of-the-line builds so that we can create content and play at our highest level for our fans.”
The announcement also highlights a supposed customer who said the program let them immediately get a gaming PC that they can’t afford. The program also targets people who only need a high-end PC for a short period or who want easy biennial upgrades.
But for most, rental PCs don’t make much fiscal sense long-term, as monthly fees add up over time. For example, the cheapest plan would cost $758 the first year (including the setup/shipping fee), which is more than various prebuilt gaming PCs and DIY builds.
Subscribers also don’t own the computer. They can get an upgraded system after two years, but in that time, they will have spent $1,466 to $4,106 for hardware that they don’t own. Meanwhile, $1,466 to $4,106 could fetch a quality PC that you could own and continue getting value from beyond two years.
Flex also competes with PC rental programs from companies like Rent-A-Center and Aaron’s that let people rent to own. A few months ago, an NZXT representative confirmed via Reddit that Flex isn’t a rent-to-own program. The rep said that computer buyouts could be allowed but that only a portion of rental payments would apply to the purchase.
Those seeking immediate PC gaming gratification with limited funds also have options in payment plans/financing, used systems, and cloud gaming—all of which have drawbacks but let you compute and play games with hardware that you own.
Recently, more tech brands have been showing interest in trying to draw subscription dollars from consumer gadgets that typically only net a one-time profit. HP, for example, has a printer rental program where you pay to use a printer that you don’t own and that HP tracks. Logitech CEO Hanneke Faber also recently discussed interest in selling a “forever mouse” that people would own but requires a subscription to receive ongoing software updates.
Move over, SO-DIMM. A new type of memory module has been made official, and backers like Dell are hoping that it eventually replaces SO-DIMM (small outline dual in-line memory module) entirely.
This month, JEDEC, a semiconductor engineering trade organization, announced that it had published the JESD318: Compression Attached Memory Module (CAMM2) standard, as spotted by Tom’s Hardware.
CAMM2 was originally introduced as CAMM via Dell, which has been pushing for standardization since it announced the technology at CES 2022. Dell released the only laptops with CAMM in 2022, the Dell Precision 7670 and 7770 workstations.
The standard includes DDR5 and LPDDR5/5X designs. The former targets “performance notebooks and mainstream desktops,” and the latter is for “a broader range of notebooks and certain server market segment,” JEDEC’s announcement said.
They each have the same connector but differing pinouts, so a DDR5 CAMM2 can’t be wrongfully mounted onto an LPDDR5/5X connector. CAMM2 means that it will be possible to have non-soldered LPDD5X memory. Currently, you can only get LPDDR5X as soldered chips.
Another reason supporters are pushing CAMM2 is in consideration of speed, as SO-DIMM tops out at 6,400 MHz, with max supported speeds even lower in four-DIMM designs. Many mainstream designs aren’t yet at this threshold. But Dell originally proposed CAMM as a way to get ahead of this limitation (largely through closer contact between the module and motherboard). The published CAMM2 standard says LPDDR5 DRAM CAMM2 “is expected to start at 6,400 MTs and increment upward in cadence with the DRAM speed capabilities.”
Samsung in September announced plans to offer LPDDR CAMM at 7.5Gbps, noting that it expects commercialization in 2024. Micron also plans to offer CAMM at up to 9,600Mbps and 192GB-plus per module in late 2026, as per a company road map shared by AnandTech last month. Both announcements were made before the CAMM2 standard was published, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see timelines extended.
Enlarge/ Samsung shared this rendering of a CAMM ahead of the publishing of the CAMM2 standard in September.
CAMM2 supports capacities of 8GB to 128GB on a single module. This opens the potential for thinner computer designs that don’t sacrifice memory or require RAM modules on both sides of the motherboard. Dell’s Precision laptops with Dell’s original CAMM design is 57 percent thinner than SO-DIMM, Dell said. The laptops released with up to 128GB of DDR5-3600 across one module and thinness as low as 0.98 inches, with a 16-inch display.
Enlarge/ A Dell rendering depicting the size differences between SO-DIMM and CAMM.
Dell
Nominal module dimensions listed in the standard point to “various” form factors for the modules, with the X-axis measuring 78 mm (3.07 inches) and the Y-axis 29.6–68 mm (1.17–2.68 inches).
Computers can also achieve dual-channel memory for more bandwidth with one CAMM compared to SO-DIMM’s single-channel design. Extra space could lead to better room for things like device heat management.
JEDEC’s announcement said:
By splitting the dual-channel CAMM2 connector lengthwise into two single-channel CAMM2 connectors, each connector half can elevate the CAMM2 to a different level. The first connector half supports one DDR5 memory channel at 2.85mm height while the second half supports a different DDR5 memory channel at 7.5mm height. Or, the entire CAMM2 connector can be used with a dual-channel CAMM2. This scalability from single-channel and dual-channel configurations to future multi-channel setups promises a significant boost in memory capacity.
Unlike their taller SO-DIMM counterparts, CAMM2 modules press against an interposer, which has pins on both sides to communicate with the motherboard. However, it’s also worth noting that compared to SO-DIMM modules, CAMM2 modules are screwed in. Upgrades may also be considered more complex since going from 8GB to 16GB, for example, would require buying a whole new CAMM and getting rid of the prior rather than only buying a second 8GB module.
JEDEC’s standardization should eventually make it cheaper for these parts to be created and sourced for different computers. It could also help adoption grow, but it will take years before we can expect this CAMM2 to overtake 26-year-old SO-DIMM, as Dell hopes. But with a few big names behind the standard and interest in thinner, more powerful computers, we should see a greater push for these modules in computers in the coming years.
