Between pessimism about inventory and prices and possible violations of market laws, the DRAM industry is in crisis more than ever.
So, of course, one might suspect that Micron is looking out for its own interests: given that it is one of the three DRAM giants—along with the South Korean brands Samsung and SK Hynix—the American company has little interest in seeing DRAM market conditions shift toward lower prices. Nevertheless, the company’s comment is significant. TechPowerUp reports the remarks of Sanjay Mehrotra, Micron’s CEO: “Our customers are aware that memory and storage supply shortages will take time to resolve.” He added: “Although we anticipate a gradual improvement in industry supply by 2028, we are not currently able to predict when memory supply will be able to catch up with growing demand.”
Micron’s massive new factory project near New York © Micron
The company’s CEO is therefore pessimistic, and while some industry leaders had hoped for a lull by 2027, he does not foresee stabilization until 2028 at the earliest—and a decline is clearly out of the question.
However, things could take an interesting turn: a complaint was filed on June 25 in federal court in the Northern District of California. The complaint accuses the three manufacturers—Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix—of colluding on DRAM prices and restricting supply. According to the complaint, the three industry giants did not simply respond to the growing demand for AI chips; they allegedly deliberately reduced their supply to the consumer market to drive up prices far beyond what would normally result from an imbalance between supply and demand.
Of course, the investigation is likely to be lengthy, and we shouldn’t expect to see any immediate effects, even if the manufacturers are found guilty. It’s important to note that there have already been precedents for such agreements; in 2002, Infineon, Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix colluded on prices: Micron had reported this situation, but the other three were hit with substantial fines for that time. However, we shouldn’t get too carried away: other complaints and rulings have also sometimes noted that if manufacturers engaged in similar behavior, it was simply the most logical response to a given situation. A case to watch, then…
