The memory market is in the grip of a severe supply crunch. According to TrendForce, conventional DRAM contract prices soared 90 to 95 percent quarter-over-quarter at the start of the year. The cause is the explosive growth of AI data centers, which are absorbing nearly all available supply as companies race to build out infrastructure.
The shift is reshaping the industry. Micron, for example, discontinued its Crucial consumer brand in February to concentrate on high-margin AI data center demand. Even a stalled deal involving NVIDIA's planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI for 10 gigawatts of data centers illustrates the scale of the appetite for memory.
Consumers are feeling the pinch, with higher RAM prices and fewer options. This is not the first time a memory shortage has hit the market; in 2017, Huawei blamed slower devices on a memory shortage after mixing flash chips. The current crunch, however, is driven by AI's insatiable demand, and it shows no immediate sign of easing.