Executives from major memory manufacturers Micron and Samsung indicated this week that supply constraints will continue for at least the next two years, with demand significantly outpacing manufacturing capacity.
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told investors that demand for the company’s memory products will exceed available supply through the forecasted period. While Micron no longer manufactures consumer RAM directly, its focus on producing high-bandwidth memory for artificial intelligence applications and DRAM for data centers is limiting the supply available for consumer electronics. Mehrotra stated that the supply-demand environment is tightening overall, and new manufacturing facilities planned for 2028 will only gradually increase output as production ramps up. He noted that technological transitions to newer memory generations provide diminishing productivity gains per manufacturing unit.
The production landscape shows significant demand already locked in for coming periods. Approximately 75 percent of Micron’s memory output for 2027 is already accounted for, with most current sales discussions centered on 2028 deliveries. High-bandwidth memory for AI applications is selling at prices substantially higher than current year levels and is surpassing traditional DRAM in demand. Mehrotra attributed continued demand growth to expanding AI model sizes, increased data processing concurrency, and growing enterprise and consumer applications requiring greater memory capacity.
Samsung’s assessment aligns with Micron’s outlook. A Samsung executive noted that high-bandwidth memory production will consume nearly 30 percent of DRAM manufacturers’ wafer capacity in 2027, compared to 20 percent currently, further constraining memory available for consumer products. Micron’s consumer-focused Crucial brand ceased retail RAM sales, a transition announced late in the previous year, as the company prioritizes serving larger enterprise customers in high-growth segments.
The shortage has already impacted consumer markets, with prices rising for prebuilt computers, smartphones, gaming consoles, and other devices as manufacturers offer reduced memory configurations at higher price points.
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