Source: in-cyprus.philenews.com
By George Malekkos*
The rapid development of AI is already beginning to affect the entire global technology supply chain.
A characteristic example is the memory chip market.
As recent reports have highlighted, the increased demand created by investments in AI infrastructure is absorbing enormous quantities of DRAM and SSDs, limiting available supply for smartphones, PCs and other devices.
The impact is already significant.
IDC forecasts a 16.7% decline in global smartphone shipments in 2026, while the average selling price is expected to increase by 27.6%. Gartner forecasts that DRAM and SSD prices could increase by approximately 130% by the end of 2026, with corresponding increases in PC and smartphone prices.
For technology businesses, these figures are particularly significant.
The growth of AI is creating new pressures 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.
Europe Must Understand Its Technology Dependencies
The European Union has already recognised the strategic importance of semiconductors.
In June 2026, the European Commission presented the proposal for the Chips Act 2.0, with the aim of strengthening Europe’s semiconductor industry, developing advanced manufacturing capacity and reducing strategic dependencies on third countries.
In my view, the same strategy should also extend to memory.
RAM, HBM, DRAM and NAND are critical components of modern digital infrastructure. Their importance will continue to increase as investment in AI grows.
Europe needs a continuous overview of:
- global production capacity,
- European dependence on specific manufacturers and geographic regions,
- memory prices and availability,
- the impact of AI growth on demand,
- delivery times,
- risks for SMEs and European businesses,
- the ability of the European market to support the projected growth of AI infrastructure.
CITEA’s Proposal: European RAM Index
Against this background, CITEA has already submitted a proposal to DIGITALEUROPE to explore the creation of a European RAM Index.
Our proposal concerns a European mechanism for monitoring the memory market and the strategic dependencies associated with it.
A European RAM Index could collect and monitor indicators such as:
- DRAM, NAND and HBM prices,
- global and European supply levels,
- concentration of production by country and manufacturer,
- European consumption and demand,
- AI-related demand,
- lead times,
- capacity allocation to AI infrastructure,
- impact on PCs, servers, smartphones and enterprise infrastructure.
It could also function as an early-warning system for the European Union, the technology industry and businesses.
The value of such an index lies in providing timely information.
If prices begin to rise sharply, if global production becomes concentrated among a small number of providers, or if AI-driven demand creates pressures in other sectors of the economy, Europe needs to know as early as possible.
AI Sovereignty Means Understanding the Entire Technology Stack
The European Commission is planning the creation of AI Gigafactories and has announced the mobilisation of €20 billion for their development. The objective is to significantly increase the computing power available to European businesses, startups, researchers and public organisations.
These infrastructures require enormous quantities of hardware.
They need accelerators.
They need chips.
They need memory.
They need energy.
They need cloud infrastructure.
They need data.
Europe’s technological sovereignty is directly linked to how well it understands, monitors and manages these dependencies.
The European Commission itself now recognises that the growing demand for computing capacity and dependence on suppliers outside Europe constitute an important issue for European competitiveness and resilience.
European Ideas Can Start in Cyprus
Cyprus is a small market.
However, our technology community participates every day in the same global market as Europe’s largest economies.
Cypriot companies purchase hardware, use cloud infrastructure, develop AI solutions and face the same international changes in technology prices and availability.
At CITEA, we believe it is important to participate actively in European discussions and put forward practical proposals.
The proposal for a European RAM Index is one of them.
We want DIGITALEUROPE to examine the idea together with the European technology industry and assess whether it can evolve into a European tool for market monitoring and strategic planning.
Europe is investing billions in the development of AI.
At the same time, it must have a deep understanding of the infrastructure and resources on which this development will depend.
Whatever we consider strategic for Europe, we must also be able to measure.
The European RAM Index could become another tool towards achieving this objective.
*George Malekkos is President of the Cyprus Information Technology Enterprises Association (CITEA)