CITEA president calls for European RAM Index as AI drives demand for memory chips

Nicosia, Cyprus. The rapid development of AI is beginning to affect the global technology supply chain, according to George Malekkos, president of the Cyprus Information Technology Enterprises Association (CITEA). He has called for a European RAM Index to monitor memory prices, supply and strategic dependencies.

Pressure on memory supply

Malekkos said investment in AI infrastructure is absorbing large quantities of DRAM and SSDs, limiting the supply available for smartphones, PCs and other devices.

Citing recent forecasts, he said IDC expects global smartphone shipments to fall by 16.7 per cent in 2026, while the average selling price is expected to rise by 27.6 per cent. He also cited Gartner forecasts that DRAM and SSD prices could increase by approximately 130 per cent by the end of 2026, with corresponding increases in PC and smartphone prices.

Malekkos said the figures are particularly significant for technology businesses because AI growth is putting pressure on GPUs, memory, data centres, energy and advanced semiconductors. “Every new AI Factory and every new AI data centre increases demand across this entire ecosystem,” he said.

Call for European monitoring

Malekkos said the European Union has recognised the strategic importance of semiconductors, pointing to the European Commission’s June 2026 proposal for Chips Act 2.0. The proposal aims to strengthen Europe’s semiconductor industry, develop advanced manufacturing capacity and reduce strategic dependencies on third countries.

“In my view, the same strategy should also extend to memory,” he said. Malekkos argued that RAM, HBM, DRAM and NAND are critical to modern digital infrastructure and will become increasingly important as AI investment grows.

He said Europe needs a continuous overview of global production capacity, dependence on specific manufacturers and geographic regions, memory prices and availability, the effect of AI growth on demand, delivery times, and risks for SMEs and other European businesses.