The recent introduction of Intel Alder Lake processors for desktop PCs has resulted in shortages of DDR5 memory modules shared Adata chairman Chen Libai in an interview.

According to the Adata CEO, the main three DRAM manufacturers have not yet converted enough of their manufacturing capacity to DDR5, and a local news article indicates that this has already resulted in a scarcity, owing to eSports players' enthusiasm for the current Intel PC platform. According to the source, the global scarcity of DDR5 that is currently being noticed occurred "unexpectedly." Libai predicts that the top three (Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron) would realign production priorities in order to adequately meet the market by Q2 2022.

As with the GPU shortage, we anticipate that any incoming DDR5 supplies will favor system builders over the DIY market, which means that pre-built PCs and laptops with ADL and new memory – as well as those highly sought-after GPUs – may make particularly sound new platform choices from now until summer. 

PMIC shortage - Another shortage cause would be a lack of sufficient Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) chips - which DDR5 has integrated into the DIMM - thus a l ack of enough power supply ICs. Current lead times for PMIC orders are projected to be 35 weeks, putting additional strain on system assemblers and DRAM producers, as well as causing delays and bottlenecks across the supply chain, according to the industry.

DDR5 power management chips are 10 times as expensive as identical DDR4 power management solutions does not bode good for the future of DDR prices. Because of the decreasing supply/demand ratio, greater prices for DDR5 modules are to be expected in the future. 

The advent of Intel Alder Lake processor results in a DDR5 RAM module shortage.