Overview
- Micron told investors that it expects demand to exceed supply in calendar 2027 and 2028 and that customers will face much higher memory prices next year.
- The company said most of the memory it expects to produce in 2027 is already sold, which limits available inventory for other buyers and locks in higher contract prices.
- Memory makers are shifting wafer capacity toward high‑bandwidth memory for AI, with Samsung estimating HBM could take roughly 30 percent of DRAM wafer space next year and reduce supply for standard DRAM used in phones and PCs.
- Micron is investing heavily and plans new factories that should start producing around 2028, but executives warned that cleanroom build and ramp times mean added capacity will not immediately relieve the shortage.
- Consumers are already feeling the impact through higher device prices and reduced low‑cost phone availability, and Micron says a longer‑term demand source — so‑called physical AI and humanoid robots that may need hundreds of gigabytes of DRAM per unit — could keep memory demand elevated into the decade’s end.