As some of you might have heard by now, memory shortages are coming. This is namely due to many memory makers who have decided to switch their focus to high bandwidth memory that is largely used in AI data centers. This means that memory for other applications is being deprioritized. But if you’re hoping this is a temporary thing, prepare yourselves because according to Micron, the memory shortage is expected to persist beyond 2026 .
Micron says memory shortage will go beyond 2026
According to Micron, the company estimates that the memory shortage issue will go beyond 2026. However, the company did not say when it will end, but some have estimated that it could last up to 2028 , if not longer. This is extremely worrying because memory is used in a lot of our devices.
We’re talking about our phones, smartwatches, tablets, and computers. Obviously memory for these devices will still be manufactured. But as companies focus more on HBM, they will produce less of other types of memory. Based on the law of supply and demand, this will definitely result in prices going through the roof .
This could spell bad news for companies making low-end devices. Over the years, the prices of memory have dropped. This has allowed phone makers to stuff their low-end phones with more RAM to act as a selling point. However, if prices continue to soar, this could force phone makers to stop using high amounts of memory in their phones. A recent report claims that we might even see the return of phones with 4GB of RAM.
Win for businesses, but at the expense of consumers
That being said, it’s no surprise that memory makers are focusing more on HBMs than traditional memory. Thanks to the AI boom, which has seen an increase in data centers and demand for hardware, companies that manufacture memory have seen a sharp rise in revenue.
Take Micron for example. According to its latest earnings , the company reported a record revenue of $13.64 billion this past quarter. That’s a sizable jump from the $8.71 billion it made the same time last year. This is similar to when cryptocurrency was trending. To mine crypto, miners needed powerful hardware like high-end GPUs.
This led to many buying up the GPUs in the consumer market, resulting in lower supply for regular users. It also drove the prices up to sky high prices, prices which haven’t really gone back down that much since then.
