AI Boom Fuels Chip Demand: Tech Leaders Warn Memory Crisis Is Approaching
AI data center expansion drives a 75% surge in DRAM prices since December, straining supply chains and squeezing margins across consumer electronics and automotive sectors.
- Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., and Tim Cook, Apple CEO, warned a global memory-chip shortage is hitting profits and production, while since 2026 Tesla Inc., Apple Inc. and others signaled DRAM constraints.
- The buildout of AI data centers is driving chipmakers to shift capacity toward high-bandwidth memory, raising HBM's share to 23% of DRAM wafer output in 2026, hyperscalers say.
- Retailers and middlemen report daily memory price changes as DRAM costs soared 75% from December to January, while GF Securities estimates a 4% DRAM and 3% NAND supply gap stressing inventories.
- Manufacturers warned that the memory chip shortage will strain product plans and margins, with Chinese smartphone makers trimming 2026 shipment targets by up to 20%, and DRAM costs rising to 30% of low-end smartphones' bill of materials, soon.
- Executives warn the imbalance in the memory sector is structural and will last at least through the year, as building chip fabrication capacity will take years and supply won’t rebound soon.
16 Articles
16 Articles
AI boom fuels chip demand: Tech leaders warn memory crisis is approaching
Global tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Tim Cook, are warning of a looming memory chip crunch as AI data centres consume unprecedented resources, threatening higher prices and production slowdowns worldwide.
Micron, which has undertaken a $200B US expansion, says it can currently meet about 50%-66% of demand for some key customers, as AI drives memory chip demand (Robbie Whelan/Wall Street Journal)
Robbie Whelan / Wall Street Journal: Micron, which has undertaken a $200B US expansion, says it can currently meet about 50%-66% of demand for some key customers, as AI drives memory chip demand — For decades, memory chips were low-margin commodity products. Now the industry can't make enough to…
DECRYPTAGE - The high demand for these components in the data centres of the AIA leads to shortages and price increases. The general public will be affected this year.
Elon Musk and Tim Cook warn of growing memory chip shortage amid AI boom. Who will bear the brunt?
Tech leaders such as Elon Musk and Tim Cook warn that a deepening global memory chip shortage, driven by AI data centre demand, is sending DRAM prices soaring, squeezing profits and forcing electronics makers to delay launches or raise prices.
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