Memory shortage to persist beyond 2026 as AI demand reshapes chip industry and drives prices up

Kioxia's memory is "sold out" for 2026, prolonging a "high-end and expensive phase"

The companies that make RAM and flash memory chips are enjoying record profits because of the AI-induced memory crunch -- and they're also indicating that they don't expect conditions to improve much if at all in 2026. And while RAM kits have been hit the fastest and hardest by shortages and price increases, we shouldn't expect SSD pricing to improve any time soon, either. That's the message from Shunsuke Nakato (via PC Gamer), managing director of the memory division of Kioxia, the Japanese memory company that was spun off from Toshiba at the end of the 2010s. Nakato says that Kioxia's manufacturing capacity is sold out through the rest of 2026, driving the market for both enterprise and consumer SSDs to a "high-end and expensive phase." "There is a sense of crisis that companies will be eliminated the moment they stop investing in AI, so they have no choice but to continue investing," said Nakato, as reported by the Korean-language publication Digital Daily. Absent a big change in the demand for generative AI data centers, that cycle of investments will keep prices high for the foreseeable future. Nakato did note that Kioxia was attempting to increase its manufacturing capacity to meet the elevated demand, saying that it was taking steps to improve yields at its factory in Yokkaichi and that Kioxia expected another factory in Kitakami to begin "full-scale mass production" this year. As we've seen during several chip shortages this decade, it takes time for chip shortages to abate because it takes years to build new factories and get them producing useful numbers of usable chips. Companies are also sometimes cautious about adding new capacity too quickly, lest market conditions change in the interim and leave them with piles of expensive memory that they have to discount heavily to sell. Our own recent retail research has shown that price increases have been a bit more extreme for higher-capacity drives, at least so far -- both the increases and the cost-per-gigabyte have been more extreme for 2TB and 4TB SSDs than for 1TB models. But regardless of the size of the drive, prices seem unlikely to come down any time soon. For desktop users looking for storage upgrades, it's worth looking into whether your PC has additional M.2 storage slots that can accommodate additional storage without making you replace the drive you have already. If it's huge, 100+ GB modern game downloads that are devouring your drive space, Steam and most other PC game storefronts make it relatively easy to add more drives and to offload games to a secondary drive. Some larger gaming laptops also include a secondary M.2 slot, though this will vary from model to model, and some of them may require a shorter M.2 2240 SSD rather than a full-length M.2 2280 drive. These secondary M.2 slots are sometimes slower than the primary slot, for technical reasons -- sometimes, one M.2 slot uses higher-speed PCI Express lanes built into the CPU, while others use lower-speed PCIe lanes provided by the chipset. But any reasonably modern PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 drive will feel fast enough for most things most of the time and will be preferable to using external storage or relying on slow SD or microSD cards.

Micron Says 'Unprecedented' Memory Shortage to Last Beyond 2026

Micron is expanding its manufacturing capacity in the US and Asia to address the shortage, including a $100 billion production site near Syracuse, New York, and plans to bring 40% of its DRAM manufacturing onto US soil. Nvidia Corp. supplier Micron Technology Inc. said an ongoing memory chip shortage has accelerated over the past quarter and reiterated that the crunch will last beyond this year due to a surge in demand for high-end semiconductors required for AI infrastructure. "The shortage we are seeing is really unprecedented," Micron Executive Vice President of Operations Manish Bhatia said in an interview shortly after the chipmaker held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $100 billion production site outside Syracuse, New York, on Friday, amplifying a similar forecast the company provided in December. High-bandwidth memory required to make artificial intelligence accelerators is "consuming so much of the available capacity across the industry that it's leaving a tremendous shortage for the conventional side of the industry, for phones or PCs," Bhatia said. He added that PC and smartphone makers have joined the queue to try to lock up memory chips after 2026, while autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots will further drive demand for those components. On Friday, Chinese media outlet Jiemian reported that major Chinese smartphone makers including Xiaomi Corp., Oppo and Shenzhen Transsion Holdings Co. are trimming their shipment targets for 2026 due to rising memory costs, with Oppo cutting its forecast by as much as 20%. All three did not respond to requests for comment. Global smartphone shipments may decline 2.1% this year as a shortage of memory chips drives up costs and squeezes production, industry tracker Counterpoint Research estimated in December. PC makers including Dell Technologies Inc. have also warned they are likely to be affected by the ongoing shortage. The big three of the global memory chip industry -- Micron, SK Hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. -- saw their share prices surge in 2025 thanks to the AI boom. SK Hynix said it has sold out its entire chip slate in 2026, while Micron has said its AI memory semiconductors are also fully booked this year. To prioritize supplying strategic enterprise customers including Nvidia, Micron said in December it will end its popular Crucial-branded consumer memory business. The AI industry's insatiable appetite for memory chips is also adding urgency to Micron's manufacturing expansion in both the US and Asia. On Saturday, Micron announced plans to pay $1.8 billion for a site with an existing plant in Taiwan, which serves as a key production hub for the Boise, Idaho-based chipmaker. That move significantly shortens the time for Micron to bring a new factory online. The company says it will start meaningful output of DRAM wafers in the second half of 2027. DRAM provides the operating environment for complex processors from Nvidia and Intel Corp. to make calculations and is at the heart of high-bandwidth memory required for AI accelerators to work optimally. "What we'll be doing at our Asian sites is continuing to transition to the next generation of technology," Bhatia said during the Friday interview. New wafer capacity, on the other hand, will take place almost entirely in the US, he added. Micron's $100 billion project near Syracuse is slated to host four DRAM fabs -- each about the size of 10 football fields. First wafers are coming out of the production lines by 2030. The US chipmaker is adding two fabs' worth of capacity in Boise alongside existing research and development facilities there. The first Idaho fab is scheduled to begin production in 2027, and a second factory is being planned. It is also modernizing and expanding an existing manufacturing facility in Virginia. The plans are all part of the company's commitment to bring 40% of its DRAM manufacturing onto US soil, a goal enabled by a $6.2 billion Chips Act award the company clinched in 2024, and the ability to tap into a now-35% tax credit while construction is ongoing. Read more about the memory chip shortage Lutnick Says Some Korean, Taiwanese Firms Risk 100% Chip Tariffs SK Hynix to Build $13 Billion AI Memory Chip Packaging Plant Samsung's Profit Triples After AI Supercharges Memory Market Memory Chip Makers Say AI Alters Boom-Bust Cycle: Tech In Depth Tech Firms From Dell to HP Warn of Memory Chip Squeeze From AI

Kioxia warns NAND flash chip supply will remain tight amid AI surge

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Facepalm: Kioxia, a company spun off from Toshiba in 2018 and credited with inventing flash memory, predicts that the memory market will be influenced by AI-related investments for at least the next two years. Worse yet, consumers can expect to pay higher prices for the same products. Kioxia is working to significantly enhance storage performance for AI workloads in the enterprise market. Unfortunately for individual consumers, that same focus is driving up prices for traditional storage products. Shunsuke Nakato, managing director of Kioxia's memory division, recently confirmed that the company's NAND Flash output for this year is already sold out. Speaking at an event in Seoul, Nakato discussed the current "supercycle" of AI-driven spending, which he expects to continue at least through 2027. For consumers, the biggest impact of the AI boom is the disappearance of affordable SSDs. Nakato reportedly believes that the era of 1TB flash drives costing less than $50 is over. The memory industry is no longer prioritizing affordability, as enterprise demand is straining the NAND supply chain and reshaping the market. Kioxia's executive said the memory industry is now singularly focused on AI, driven more by hype than practical utility. Organizations are discovering that AI delivers limited value in many corporate environments, yet investment continues unabated, fueled by unprecedented FOMO. Big Tech and high-profile AI startups, including OpenAI, are reserving ever-increasing amounts of chip production, leaving Kioxia facing the same supply challenges confronting other memory manufacturers. Nakato explained that the company cannot simply ramp up output to meet the growing orders. To manage demand, Kioxia is negotiating with long-term partners to allocate its annual chip production, rather than prioritizing the highest bidder. In some cases, supply has increased slightly, Nakato said, but prices have risen as much as 30 percent. Looking ahead, Kioxia expects its business to expand significantly in the coming months and years, with price increases likely playing a major role. Memory manufacturers are effectively setting their own prices, while Big Tech companies scramble to secure every available chip to power ambitious AI data center projects.

Memory Shortage to Hit Nvidia China Approvals, US Lawmaker Says

Tight memory chip supplies will constrain the number of US export licenses for Nvidia Corp. to sell its H200 artificial intelligence processors to Chinese customers, according to the top Republican on the House China committee, citing terms of a Commerce Department rule issued this week. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Representative John Moolenaar called the shortage of dynamic random-access memory, or DRAM -- a crucial input for AI accelerators -- an "immediate challenge" under the new licensing conditions. Those requirements include exporters certifying that approved China shipments won't create a shortage in the US market. "Due to severe supply constraints, chips equipped with HMB3E bound for China represent an opportunity cost when it comes to HMB3E that could otherwise be utilized by American customers," Moolenaar wrote, using a term that refers to a type of high-bandwidth memory. An Nvidia spokesperson said the company regularly manages its "supply chain and can serve all approved H200 orders without impacting other products or customers." The Commerce Department didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Get the Tech Newsletter bundle. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg's subscriber-only tech newsletters, and full access to all the articles they feature. Bloomberg may send me offers and promotions. Plus Signed UpPlus Sign UpPlus Sign Up By submitting my information, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Under the rules, which Moolenaar largely praised, companies must verify that their China sales won't cause delays for US AI chip buyers or divert foundry capacity that could be used to fill US orders. The letter notes that the provisions are similar to GAIN AI legislation that Moolenaar backed last year but that Nvidia and the White House successfully lobbied to remove from a must-pass defense bill. Built from stacked DRAM, the high-bandwidth memory vital to AI accelerators is made by three main companies: Samsung Electronics Co., SK Hynix Inc. and Micron Technology Inc., all of which have warned in recent months of limited supply. Demand for the components -- long treated as a commodity -- has skyrocketed due to the AI data center boom. At the CES conference earlier this month, Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang acknowledged the memory shortage while insisting that his company is insulated as the sole buyer for the latest generation of memory -- HBM4 -- which is used in its upcoming line of Vera Rubin-design processors. The letter says that Nvidia uses a special kind of memory made from stacked DRAM chips called HBM3 in its H200 and its Blackwell GB300 systems, the most advanced product available to US customers until the Rubin chips begin shipping to customers later this year. Moolenaar asked Lutnick to brief the panel by Jan. 25, requesting details on how the availability of memory chips will affect license approvals. During a hearing Wednesday, House Foreign Affairs committee Chairman Brian Mast, whose panel has jurisdiction over export control programs, thanked the Trump administration for the rule's safeguards. Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, another sponsor of last year's GAIN AI effort, also lauded the new regulation, saying that if implemented "in good faith, it will not approve a single license for NVIDIA to sell H200s to China."

After RAM, storage could be next to break your budget

Storage components face upward pressure as producers cut NAND production amid AI demand If you thought rising RAM prices were tough on your wallet, storage might be the next tech category to feel the pinch. According to a recent report from Chosun Biz, major flash memory producers Samsung Electronics and SK hynix are planning cuts to their NAND production in 2026, even as demand for storage continues to grow, particularly from AI and data center customers. That shift has sparked concern that SSD prices, already trending upward, could climb even further this year. NAND flash memory is a core ingredient in solid-state drives, USB flash drives, and other storage products. As such, tighter supplies can ripple across PCs, tablets, and enterprise hardware alike. Analysts say the combination of supply constraints and shifting production priorities could reverse years of steady price declines in the consumer storage market. Why NAND Cuts Matter for SSD Prices At the heart of the issue is a strategic reallocation of production capacity within the memory industry. Samsung and SK Hynix together account for more than 60% of global NAND production, giving their decisions outsized influence over supply. According to the report, Samsung plans to reduce NAND output by 4.5%, while SK Hynix is expected to cut production by 10.5%. The reason is straightforward: both companies want to prioritize more profitable memory segments like DRAM and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in AI infrastructure. That matters because less NAND availability means fewer SSDs can be produced, tightening supply across both consumer and enterprise storage. With AI models and data platforms consuming massive amounts of memory and storage capacity, traditional PC and device markets are increasingly competing for a shrinking pool of NAND chips. It's a dynamic that clearly pushes prices upward. SSDs that once felt like bargains compared to hard drives could become noticeably more expensive across capacities and form factors if supply remains constrained. For tech buyers and PC builders, this could hit at exactly the wrong time. The storage component of your next build or upgrade may end up costing more than expected, especially for anyone who has grown used to steady SSD price drops over the past few years. With both RAM and storage prices climbing, building a new gaming PC right now is starting to make less financial sense than it did even a year ago.

Memory manufacturer Kioxia reveals its entire NAND flash production volume for 2026 is already 'sold out'

And we're unlikely to see supply improve until 2027 at the earliest. For anyone hoping against hope that the memory supply crisis just might start to stabilise in 2026, I've got bad news: An executive at Kioxia, a memory manufacturer based in Japan, recently admitted that the company's production volume for the year is already sold out. The managing director of Kioxia's memory business unit, Shunsuke Nakato, made the admission during an interview with Korean news outlet Digital Daily, elaborating that the ever-hungry AI industry's demand for memory has led to a challenging supply and demand situation. Nakato went on to say that, as many companies are continuing to invest in AI out of a fear of being left behind, the situation is likely to continue into 2027 at least. Though memory supplies are limited, Kioxia is apparently deploying something of a 'gentleman's agreement' with its clients, remaining committed to existing contracts rather than adopting a 'first-come, first-served' or 'everything to the highest bidder' approach. However, Nakato also admits that even long-term Kioxia customers are having to contend with as much as a 30% year-on-year price increase. Also interesting to note from this interview is Nakato's scepticism about QLC tech. For context, SK Hynix unveiled a 'world first' 321-layer QLC flash memory chip last year, while Micron revealed it wasn't completely abandoning the consumer arena by announcing its PCIe 5.0 QLC drive, the Micron 3610 NVMe SSD. Nakato highlighted concerns about the tech's lifespan and performance, before arguing that eighth-generation NAND flash would still be preferable as it overcomes those issues at a structural level. Otherwise, Nakata's comments regarding the memory supply crisis are 'so far, so familiar,' -- though some industry observers have suggested there'll be no end in sight through 2028 and beyond. Still, it may not be all doom and gloom. For one, Nakato was keen to highlight the suite of new products Kioxia intends to release throughout 2026. For another, the interview also highlighted Kioxia's high production capacity and its plans to ease the supply situation by improving the operational efficiency of its Yokkaichi and Kitakami factories. The Yokkaichi plant is already one of the largest flash memory production facilities in the world, but a second chip fab will also enter full-scale production later this year at the Kitakami site. That said, this is unlikely to appreciably ease the supply situation in the short term -- for instance, even though the second largest memory maker SK Hynix has significantly moved up a number of its chip foundry plans, we're still unlikely to see an appreciable improvement in memory supply for some time yet.

SSD prices may follow RAM pricing after Samsung and SK Hynix reportedly cut NAND production

TL;DR: Samsung and SK Hynix are cutting NAND production to focus on more profitable DRAM manufacturing amid rising AI-driven demand. This shift strains global NAND supply, driven by major buyers like NVIDIA and AMD, causing SSD prices to increase and signaling potential shortages in consumer storage products. Samsung and SK Hynix are reportedly cutting NAND production to divert manufacturing capacity to more profitable avenues, such as DRAM. The emergence of AI and the exponential power of the hardware fuelling demand from companies around the world for more powerful models is straining the global supply of specific components, with DRAM the most notable at the moment. With a limited number of memory manufacturers and only a limited number of global suppliers, manufacturers are making more money selling HBM and DRAM in large quantities to customers such as NVIDIA and AMD, as these companies can outbid consumer-facing companies like Lenovo and Dell. The strain on the DRAM supply has seen DDR5 kits skyrocket in price, and the same thing could happen to NAND storage. NAND chips have become an important component in the AI supply chain, as NVIDIA's Rubin platform is now expected to gobble up a large portion of the global NAND supply, with racks taking up as much as 115.2 million TB of NAND storage by 2027. With NAND production reportedly reduced by Samsung and SK Hynix, and NAND supply already allocated to companies such as NVIDIA and AMD, we can expect a similar level of strain on global NAND supply, which will more than likely trickle down to consumer products, as with DRAM. Reports indicate that NAND shortages have already increased SSD prices, particularly over the past few months.

Surging memory chip prices dim outlook for consumer electronics makers

The rapid build-out of artificial intelligence infrastructure by U.S. tech firms such as OpenAI, Alphabet-owned Google and Microsoft has absorbed much of the world's memory chip supply, pushing up prices as manufacturers prioritize components for higher-margin data centers over consumer devices. Global demand for smartphones, personal computers and gaming consoles is expected to shrink this year as companies ⁠from Britain's Raspberry Pi to HP Inc raise sticker prices to offset surging memory chip costs. The rapid build-out of artificial intelligence infrastructure by U.S. tech firms such as OpenAI, Alphabet-owned Google and Microsoft has absorbed much of the world's memory chip supply, pushing up prices as manufacturers prioritize components for higher-margin data centers over consumer devices. Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron, the world's three largest producers of memory chips, have said in recent months that they were struggling to keep up with demand as they reported rosy quarterly earnings on the back of surging prices for their semiconductors. But the price surge is rippling through consumer markets. Research firms IDC and Counterpoint both now expect global smartphone sales to shrink at least 2% this year, in a sharp reversal from their growth outlook a few months ago. That would mark the first annual decline in shipments since 2023. The PC market is expected to shrink at least 4.9% in 2026, IDC estimated, after an 8.1% growth last year. Meanwhile, console sales are expected to fall 4.4% in the current year after an estimated growth of 5.8% in 2025, according to TrendForce. Tough choices for manufacturers While several firms have already raised prices, industry heavyweights Apple and Dell face a tough choice: take on the costs and sacrifice margins or pass them onto consumers at the risk of stifling demand. "Manufacturers might absorb some costs but given the scale of the shortage, it is certainly going to show up as higher prices for consumers," Emarketer analyst Jacob Bourne said. "It is going to result in more tepid consumer device sales in 2026. It will be a challenge for these companies that are trying to sell products during a time of broader inflation." Pressure is being compounded by expectations that the price increases will persist, possibly into next year. Counterpoint estimates that memory prices will jump 40% to 50% in the first quarter, after last year's 50% surge. "Over the last two quarters, we've seen 1,000% price inflation in some products and pricing is continuing to rise," said Tobey Gonnerman, president of semiconductor distributor Fusion Worldwide. "Consumers can expect to pay significantly higher prices for laptops, mobile phones, wearables and gaming devices very soon." Analysts believe the impact is likely to be most pronounced for manufacturers of low- and mid-range devices, such as Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi and TCL Technology and PC firm Lenovo. TrendForce said last year that Dell and Lenovo were planning price hikes of as much as 20% early in 2026. Shares of all Raspberry Pi, Xiaomi, Dell, HP Inc and Lenovo fell in the last three months of 2025, with Xiaomi posting the biggest drop with a 27.2% decline. HP CEO Enrique Lores said in November the company would raise PC prices due to "significant" memory ⁠chip costs, while Raspberry Pi CEO called the ⁠cost surge "painful" in a December blog post announcing price increases for its devices. The weaker demand outlook could also hamper sales at electronics-focused retailers such as Best Buy, which had already warned last year that tariff-driven price increases could dissuade potential buyers. Apple will report earnings on January 29, while Dell is slated to report on February 26. Xiaomi usually reports in late March. Apple's market power Some analysts said Apple, with its scale, pricing power and deep supplier network, is better positioned to weather the memory chip price surge than its smaller rivals. The company typically holds prices of its flagship iPhone lineup in the U.S. steady between its September launch events. Last year, it absorbed the hundreds of millions of dollars in tariff-related costs, instead of passing them on to customers. "Apple is better-positioned, as it uses contract pricing (rather than more volatile spot pricing) for its purchases, securing better prices," Morningstar analyst William Kerwin said. "But it isn't immune, and may need to raise prices to pass on higher input costs."

As Memory Chip Prices Soar On Relentless AI Demand, Consumer Electronics Makers Feel The Squeeze: Chip Stocks Soar - Samsung Electronics Co (OTC:SSNLF)

The unrelenting demand from AI data centers has led to a dramatic surge in memory chip prices, taking a toll on the sales and margins of leading consumer electronics makers. Memory Chip Prices Surge With global AI capex projected to reach between $5 trillion and $8 trillion by 2030, the memory chip supply is increasingly feeling the strain. The world's leading memory chip manufacturers, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (OTC:SSNLF), SK Hynix Inc. (OTC:HXSCL) and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU) are struggling to keep up with the demand despite soaring prices, and fresh capex plans to shore up supply. According to Counterpoint Research, the memory market has entered a "hyper-bull" phase, with prices expected to surge another 40% to 50% during the first quarter of 2026, following a similar uptick during the fourth quarter of 2025. A 64GB RDIMM or Registered Dual In-Line Memory Module, which used to cost $255 during the third-quarter of 2025, is expected to reach $700 by March 2026, with $1,000 well within sight. Electronics Demand Expected To Fall Amid Rising Prices As a result, consumer electronics makers such as Dell Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL), Lenovo Group Ltd. (OTC:LNVGY), HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ), Xiaomi Corp. (OTC:XIACF) and even Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), are facing a difficult balancing act of having to balance margins, as well as high prices that could lead to lower demand from consumers. According to research firm IDC, the average selling price of smartphones globally could rise between 3% to 5%, while the market itself could contract by 5.2% in 2026. The PC segment isn't faring any better, with the only tailwind being the Microsoft Windows 10 end-of-life refresh cycle, which can help keep demand high even with high prices. Leading consumer electronics stocks have been hit hard in recent months, witnessing steep declines as a result of these supply-side constraints. Memory Chip Stocks Rally With unrelenting demand and soaring prices, leading memory chip manufacturers have seen their stocks soar over the past couple of months. The VanEck Semiconductor ETF, which tracks leading semiconductor and memory stocks, was up 2.96% on Wednesday, closing at $401.93, and is up 0.90% overnight. The fund scores high on Momentum in Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings, with a favorable price trend in the short, medium and long terms. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock SSNLFSamsung Electronics Co Ltd $65.21-% Overview AAPLApple Inc $248.70-% DELLDell Technologies Inc $113.90-% HPQHP Inc $19.58-% LNVGYLenovo Group Ltd $22.32-% MUMicron Technology Inc $395.25-% SMHVanEck Semiconductor ETF $404.65-% SNDKSanDisk Corp $512.50-% WDCWestern Digital Corp $247.40-% XIACFXiaomi Corp $5.75-% Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Micron says AI-driven memory crunch is 'unprecedented'

Nvidia supplier Micron Technology said an ongoing memory chip shortage has accelerated over the past quarter and reiterated that the crunch would last beyond this year due to a surge in demand for high-end semiconductors required for AI infrastructure. "The shortage we are seeing is really unprecedented," Micron Executive Vice President of Operations Manish Bhatia said in an interview shortly after the chipmaker held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $100 billion production site outside Syracuse, New York, on Friday, amplifying a similar forecast the company provided in December. High-bandwidth memory required to make artificial-intelligence accelerators is "consuming so much of the available capacity across the industry that it's leaving a tremendous shortage for the conventional side of the industry, for phones or PCs," Bhatia said.

Micron says AI-driven memory chip shortage is 'unprecedented', to last beyond 2026 (MU:NASDAQ)

Micron Technology (MU), a key supplier to Nvidia (NVDA), said the global memory-chip shortage has intensified over the past quarter and will extend beyond this year, driven by surging demand for advanced semiconductors used in AI infrastructure. "The shortage we're The intensified shortage is boosting Micron's demand, leading to fully booked AI memory products and driving manufacturing expansion and acquisitions. Surging adoption of AI infrastructure and high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators are driving the increased demand. Micron is expanding manufacturing in the U.S. and Asia, exiting consumer memory, and prioritizing enterprise customers to meet market needs.

Memory Shortage Threatens Nvidia's China AI Chip Ambitions - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) faces a fresh constraint on its China business as a global shortage of advanced memory chips threatens to limit U.S. export licenses for its H200 AI processors, raising near-term risks to sales growth just as demand for AI hardware remains red-hot. Tight supplies of advanced memory are likely to cap how many export licenses Nvidia can obtain to sell its H200 artificial intelligence processors to customers in China, according to Rep. John Moolenaar, the top Republican on the House China committee. In a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Moolenaar said shortages of DRAM, especially high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, create an "immediate challenge" under the new licensing terms. The rule requires exporters to certify that approved shipments to China will not trigger shortages in the U.S. market, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Nvidia Responds to Supply Concerns Nvidia said it regularly manages its supply chain and can fulfill all approved H200 orders without hurting supply for other products or customers. High-bandwidth memory, built from stacked DRAM, comes mainly from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (OTC:SSNLF), SK Hynix and Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ:MU), each of which has warned recently that supply remains limited as AI data center demand surges. Samsung Pushes Through Sharp Memory Price Hikes Samsung is using a global memory chip shortage to push through sharp price increases, tightening the squeeze on customers across the technology supply chain. The South Korean chipmaker has raised prices on key memory products by as much as 60% since September, according to Reuters, as demand from artificial intelligence data centers triggers panic ordering and drains available supply. The shortage, driven largely by AI servers that rely heavily on DRAM, NAND, and high-bandwidth memory, is forcing companies that are expanding AI infrastructure to absorb higher costs. Those pressures could eventually filter down to consumer products such as smartphones and PCs, which also depend on the same components. Profit Pressure Mounts for Device Makers Investors now have to weigh whether device makers like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and HP Inc. (NYSE:HPQ) can protect profits or will have to pass costs along and potentially hurt demand, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. "They're in a tough position," said Rob Thummel, senior portfolio manager at Tortoise Capital, to Bloomberg. "They basically have two options: They can take a hit to margins, which the market won't like. Or they can raise prices to offset the higher memory costs, running the risk of hurting demand." Rising memory costs have also weighed on chipmakers tied to smartphones, with recent downgrades citing the risk, including Qualcomm Inc (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Arm Holdings Plc (NASDAQ:ARM). Meanwhile, memory and storage suppliers have kept rallying into 2026. Sandisk Corp. (NASDAQ:SNDK) has led the S&P 500 to start the year, up about 75%, and Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:WDC) and Micron have ranked among the index's top performers, building on 2025 gains. Photo by Saulo Ferreira Angelo via Shutterstock NVDANVIDIA Corp$188.880.98%OverviewAAPLApple Inc$257.53-0.26%ARMARM Holdings PLC$107.302.08%HPQHP Inc$20.10-2.47%MUMicron Technology Inc$357.226.12%QCOMQualcomm Inc$162.320.58%SNDKSanDisk Corp$434.536.18%SSNLFSamsung Electronics Co Ltd$65.2154.0%WDCWestern Digital Corp$232.504.68%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs