Qualcomm is planning to raise its prices by a percentage in the double digits across its products, according to Bloomberg. The company is one of the biggest makers of smartphone processors in the world and dominates the Android landscape, with most companies using its products to power their flagship models. Among the devices that are powered by Qualcomm processors are Samsung's Galaxy series phones, including its latest foldables, the the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, Fold 8 and Flip 8. Its processors also power Microsoft CoPilot PCs, as well as wearables like smart glasses in Meta's Ray-Ban collection. As you can tell, Qualcomm's price hikes could have a big impact on pricing across brands and devices in several categories. Bloomberg says Qualcomm has already sent letters to its customers informing them about the upcoming changes.

As they scramble to keep their systems online, AI companies are making things expensive for the rest of us. Large language models such as ChatGPT and Claude are so resource-hungry that tech companies may be purchasing 70 percent of the world's supply of high-end computer memory, causing a shortage. As a result, the prices of computer memory and storage are skyrocketing: Hard drives that I bought for my reporting two years ago for $350 each were $800 when I checked two weeks ago, and are now out of stock. The prices of some laptops have gone up as much as 50 percent, and low-cost computers are being hit the hardest. Affordable entry-level computers may "disappear by 2028" according to one forecast .

Image caption, Ukraine's military described St Petersburg's oil terminal as one of the largest in Russia A major oil terminal in Russia's second city of St Petersburg in the north-west was struck overnight by Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. He described it as key infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia's war. Ukraine also said a major Russian naval base in the region was hit. St Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov said the city was under a massive drone attack, admitting the oil terminal was hit. Ukraine has recently intensified its long-range drone attacks on Russia's critical energy infrastructure, causing widespread fuel shortages.

More information Adding us as a Preferred Source in Google by using this link indicates that you would like to see more of our content in Google News results. The Dymaxion House weighed only three tons, about as much as a full-size pickup truck, and could be shipped anywhere in America for $100. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. By signing up, you confirm you are 16+, will receive newsletters and promotional content and agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy . Tucked into a corner of the cavernous Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, just outside Detroit, is a structure that looks like a cross between a Mongolian yurt and a flying saucer.

Samsung predicts the ongoing RAM shortage will intensify in 2027 and beyond, creating a worsening supply-demand gap for DRAM and SSD memory. PCWorld reports Samsung's semiconductor division profits surged to $36.5 billion in Q1 2026, representing a 49-fold increase driven by the shortage. Consumers and businesses should expect continued price increases and limited memory availability for several years ahead. We've long known the ongoing memory shortage could last several years . Even though RAM prices dipped for a bit, it was a false alarm and now there are more signs that the shortage won't abate for a while. According to Reuters, Samsung--one of the largest manufacturers of RAM and storage--believes not only that the memory shortage will worsen in 2027, but it will continue into the following years. Kim Jaejune, Executive Vice President at Samsung Electronics, is reported to have told analysts that, based solely on the orders the company has received for 2027, the gap between supply and demand for memory is likely to widen even further in 2027 compared to this year. For Samsung, however, the memory shortage has been a huge success. Operating profit for the company's semiconductor division reached nearly 53.7 trillion won ($36.5 billion USD) in the first quarter of 2026, a 49-fold increase over the previous quarter.

PCWorld reports that Intel's CPU supply chain is stabilizing as demand surges for agentic AI applications requiring enhanced processing power.

Electronics are getting more expensive and worse. Recently, a Costco in Florida instituted a new store policy. An employee told me that he was asked to open up every desktop computer displayed in the electronics section and remove the memory chips. Otherwise, the RAM harvesters would get them. Elsewhere, criminal groups are misdirecting trucks carrying RAM in order to loot them.

Shipping experts say the big winter storm across a wide swath of the country should be business as usual--if their safeguards hold. Up to two-thirds of the US is facing down the threat of serious snow, cold, and ice this weekend, with the potential to snarl roads (and the businesses that depend on them) from Texas up to New York City . At this point, grocery stores, logistics experts, warehouse operators, and trucking companies have been prepping for days. Still, the effects on the supply chain--and the retail store shelves that depend on them--are yet to be determined. On one hand, this is winter business as usual.

The AI boom is driving an unprecedented wave of data center construction, but there aren't enough skilled tradespeople in the US to keep up. AI companies like Meta and OpenAI have been offering multimillion-dollar pay packages to top talent, hoping to lure the best researchers and engineers away from their competitors. But there's another dimension of the AI talent wars that has garnered far less attention: the massive shortage of electricians, plumbers, and heating and cooling technicians in the US who can build the physical data centers that power AI. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that between 2024 and 2034, there will be a shortage of roughly 81,000 electricians on average each year in the US, measured in terms of unfilled jobs. The BLS projects the number of employed electricians to grow 9 percent over the next decade, "much faster than the average for all occupations."

The supply shortage of the RAM needed to build phones and PCs isn't going away. But a few companies have a plan to solve it. A supply shortage is the last thing tech companies want to talk about at CES . The annual trade show is their chance to promote new products and drum up excitement for what's coming, not discuss the one thing that could make selling new products in 2026 an uphill battle. But I've read the reports.