Korean government to take action over soaring DRAM costs, including monitoring markets and pricing — internet data plans to be restructured and recycled PCs to be distributed to vulnerable groups

A series of new reports from South Korea indicate that the government is planning to step in with measures to help insulate its population from the worst of the global RAM and NAND crisis, which is causing both individual PC components and PCs generally to soar in price. According to The Korea Herald, the government plans to reuse and recycle more computers used by public agencies, expanding programs that provide PC hardware to vulnerable groups. No Cut News further reports that the government plans to monitor markets and pricing, while even restructuring internet usage plans to guarantee minimum access.

According to the former, Korea's central government dumped 22,000 computers last year, with more than half of those being scrapped despite being in working order or eligible for basic tasks after servicing. The rest are sold or donated to various organizations and groups. Now, the government plans to increase the number of these PC are reused, while also expanding support initiatives that provide PCs to vulnerable groups. Alongside these measures, the Herald reports the government will also expand a subsidy program that provides cash to low-income households to help with the purchase of PCs for students.

As for the broader market, No Cut News reports that the government will introduce "comprehensive measures to reduce the burden of telecommunication fees and the prices of PCs and laptops." (Machine translated) According to the report, there are plans to restructure internet data plans from Korea's three major carriers, in a bid to guarantee that customers will still be able to access the internet at a pedestrian 400 Kbps, even after hitting their data cap, a measure designed to "guarantee basic communication rights."

As noted, extreme pressures on the market have led to skyrocketing prices for PC components like RAM and SSDs, while also driving up the price of laptops and pre-built PCs. To that end, the government reportedly plans to "monitor the distribution and supply and demand conditions of the PC and laptop markets to prevent unfair practices." The report says the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Fair Trade Commission will "inspect" the DRAM, PC, and laptop markets, investigating any possible illegal activity, "and take strict measures" if anything out of the ordinary is detected. That could be a remedy against PC hardware vendors who have drastically increased the prices of RAM and SSDs, possibly bringing some stability to the market.

The measures are being undertaken by Korea's Ministerial Task Force for Special Management of People's Living Costs, a body launched in February to help manage the prices of goods and services that directly affect people's livelihoods.

The AI buildouts consuming RAM and NAND supplies show no sign of slowing down, at least in ambition. Half of planned US data center builds have been delayed or canceled, limited by power infrastructure shortages and a lack of parts. As it stands, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, the sweet spot for enthusiast PC gaming, still costs an eye-watering $359. The cheapest $50 1TB SSD imaginable now costs nearly three times as much as it did this time last year.

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