S’porean resellers are cashing in on old laptops, thanks to AI
Most people think the hottest trades today are obvious ones: gold, Nvidia stocks, or anything related to artificial intelligence (AI).
But inside Singapore’s electronics markets, another unlikely asset is quietly surging in value: used laptops.
Yes—old, second-hand laptops that many people would normally sell for a few hundred dollars or throw into a drawer are now becoming unexpectedly valuable.
And in places like Sim Lim Square, some businesses are already turning that demand into profit.
Why used laptops suddenly matter
In the tech world, we’re seeing a new kind of price distortion—and it’s being driven by the AI boom.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping the global semiconductor industry. Training and running AI models requires enormous computing power, which in turn depends on vast amounts of high-performance memory and storage inside data centres.
To meet this demand, major memory manufacturers such as Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron have increasingly shifted production capacity toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and other specialised chips used in AI servers.
As manufacturers focus on AI servers, fewer chips are being made for everyday devices.
That means older, lower-end components, such as the random access memory (RAM) chips found in consumer laptops, are suddenly in short supply, triggering what some industry observers call the “RAMpocalypse.”
Prices have surged dramatically.
In some cases, RAM chips have jumped 300-400% in recent months, creating a supply squeeze that is rippling across the electronics ecosystem. For consumers, this means many devices are becoming harder to access, putting purchases of laptops and desktops out of reach for some.
In an interview with The Straits Times, T. K. Lee, a technical manager at Bizgram Asia, which sells new PCs and electronic devices, shared that prices for new laptops and desktops have risen 50-100% on average. Even Apple has recently increased the prices of its MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models by about S$100 to S$450 in light of the global memory chip shortage.
Lim expects prices to climb further as PC manufacturers deplete existing stocks and negotiate new supply contracts.
A “very profitable” business
Amid the global memory shortage, used-laptop resellers in Singapore are cashing in.
At shops in Sim Lim Square, some of them have pivoted their business model, focusing on dismantling laptops to extract RAM chips and other components in high demand.
“This business is better than gold or the stock market. Gold prices and the stock market have dipped, but the prices of computer chips have not,” a seller told The Straits Times. He added that the business has been “very profitable,” though he declined to reveal margins.
Extracted components are often shipped overseas, where buyers pay premiums for high-demand parts. Even the remaining parts of the laptops rarely go to waste. Motherboards, cases, and other hardware are typically sold to repair shops or business customers—these components are often used to refurbish other laptops, replace broken parts, or extend the lifespan of older devices.
Alex Capri, a senior lecturer at NUS Business School, said that the practice of sending used technology products abroad to salvage parts highlights the “fluid secondary market for consumer electronics.”
“It’s not cheap to break down a laptop and extract a chip, so this suggests these items are in high demand and fetching good prices,” he said. “It pays to do these strip-down operations at scale.”
Some sellers have even found that selling these components can be more lucrative than dealing in new devices.
Another laptop dealer, who spoke to The Straits Times but requested anonymity, said profit margins on new devices have shrunk as prices rise due to the tight supply of essential components like RAM chips.
“There’s more volume now to turn a profit in the market for used devices,” he added, noting that his main clients are in Indonesia and India.
The rise in used-laptop trading and component exports in Singapore is also reflected in electronic non-oil re-exports (NORX). NORX measures the nominal value of goods which were manufactured overseas, imported into Singapore, and exported in the same form without transformation. PCs and PC parts were among the top drivers in 2025.
With AI-related demand expected to grow, particularly for high-performance PCs and servers, this secondary market for used electronics is likely to remain strong.
- Read other articles we’ve written on Singaporean businesses here.
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