- CPU sales have plummeted, with Amazon reporting a 47% drop in early 2026 compared to the previous year.
- RAM prices have spiked significantly, tripling or quadrupling in cost because the AI industry is consuming the available supply.
- Consumers are choosing older or mid-range hardware, like the Ryzen 5 5500, to save money rather than buying the latest, more expensive generations.
Gaming on PC has been getting more expensive and demanding, but there is encouraging news for players. More and more people are turning to consoles as a budget-friendly alternative, making gaming easier to enjoy without spending much money. PC prices are still high, and memory shortages might stick around through 2026 and 2027, so this decrease in sales is obvious: the most recent numbers from Amazon USA show that 47% fewer CPUs were sold in Q1 2026 than in Q1 2025.
Several months earlier, we saw a significant price increase for RAM, with prices tripling or quadrupling. 32GB of DDR5 RAM used to cost under €100, but now costs between €300 and €400. And it isn’t even the fastest RAM available; in fact, 5600-6000 MHz CL40 modules are selling quickly. The AI industry’s demand for RAM exceeds existing supply and production capacity, resulting in a significant shortage.
As a result, PC shipments were expected to decline by more than 10% by 2026, and Amazon’s sales data are concerning. At least for CPUs, 3DCenter reports a 47% decrease in Q1 2026 (more properly, February) compared to the same period last year.
This sales figure is comparable to January 2026, when 26,100 units were sold. In comparison, 44,400 units were sold in December 2025, with 60,000 to 70,000 units sold in both November and October 2025.
The highest weekly sales figures were reported in June 2025, at 118,929 units. This data is sourced from TechEpiphany on X, which discloses weekly sales information for Mindfactory and Amazon.
This time, it was Amazon US that sold 25,700 processors. AMD accounted for 86.1% (23,000 units) at an average price of $281, retaining its solid lead and having no effect on its market share despite the current scenario. Intel sold 2,700 units for an average of $313.
The only change is the sales ratio: AM4 now accounts for 39% and AM5 for 47.2%, indicating that older CPUs are catching up with newer ones. In fact, the Ryzen 5 5500 is among the best-selling CPUs, which is surprising given that it is an entry-level or mid-range processor.
It would be close to the minimum requirements of high-end games, but with memory shortages and high prices, consumers want to save money. Nonetheless, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D remains a formidable rival, having sold 4,000 units, much like the 5500.
The Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 7 5800XT follow, each with 2,000 units. At 1,000 units sold, we have the Ryzen 5600, Ryzen 5 9600X, Ryzen 5 7600X, and Ryzen 9 9950X3D. Finally, Intel leads the next group, with 500 units each of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and Core Ultra 9 285K processors.
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[Editor-in-Chief]
Sajjad Hussain is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Tech4Gamers.com. Apart from the Tech and Gaming scene, Sajjad is a Seasonal banker who has delivered multi-million dollar projects as an IT Project Manager and works as a freelancer to provide professional services to corporate giants and emerging startups in the IT space.
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