"I think we're looking at the peak in 2026," he said, adding that even then he only expects DRAM prices to settle in 2027 before rising again in 2028.

So what's to blame for the sky-high memory prices? Well, as you might have already guessed, it's AI. But it's not the full story. Timing is also a factor.

According to Sanders, the AI boom kicked off at what was very possibly the worst time for memory vendors. "This demand started in the Valley for the DRAM industry. That makes financially trying to build additional capacity really challenging," he said. "If you're rushing, the time to bring additional capacity online is about three years. It's a quirk of bad timing that's led to the circumstances that we're in now."