Market Spirals Out of Control: Distributors Forcing Customers to Buy RAM Bundled with Motherboards

The global DRAM shortage has reached absurd levels. Taiwan Economic Daily reports that some local distributors now require customers who purchase a RAM module to also buy a motherboard. Want a single DDR5 stick? You’ll be compelled to add a motherboard to your order — whether you need it or not.

Bundles like these have appeared before, for instance during the shortage of Ryzen 7 9800X3D processors. Now memory is being affected, with prices climbing sharply over the past weeks. The explanation is simple: manufacturers and suppliers are clearing stock ahead of new platform launches and simultaneously leveraging strong DRAM demand. Mandatory RAM+motherboard packs let sellers raise margins and move components that would otherwise sit idle.

The market has slid into a phase of panic buying. Many users are postponing PC upgrades while retailers and distributors resort to increasingly questionable measures to protect their figures.

For now these bundles are mostly appearing in Taiwan. But if the situation doesn’t improve, similar tactics could spread to major global brands like ASUS or MSI. Pressure on the memory market remains high, and some companies are shifting that burden onto consumers. Experts expect stability to return only after several months.

Source: iXBT.games