Micron says the global memory chip shortage is getting worse and will last beyond this year

Micron says the world is heading into a serious memory chip shortage that’s not going to fix itself literally anytime soon.

Now Micron is the company that makes memory for Nvidia and so many other major AI companies, it also just broke ground on a $100 billion chip factory near New York, so a prediction like this from it definitely deserves our attention.

The new New York site will have four giant fabs, each the size of 10 football fields. The company said the first chips will come out in 2030. In Boise, where Micron is based, two more fabs are being added next to their R&D buildings. One will start running in 2027, and the other is still being planned.

All this is part of Micron plan to move 40% of DRAM production to the US, and it is using a $6.2 billion Chips Act grant it got in 2024 to make it happen. They’re also using a 35% tax credit that kicks in while they’re building.

Manish Bhatia, who runs operations at Micron, explained that high-bandwidth memory (the kind used in AI systems) is using up so much of the industry’s total output globally that there’s barely anything left for other products.

Phone and PC makers are now trying to secure chip supply for years ahead, especially after 2026, when demand is expected to stretch even more thanks to OpenAI and co. going public and possibly ruining everything for everyone.

Chinese phone makers cut forecasts as prices begin to rally everywhere

On Friday, the Chinese news site Jiemian said that three of China’s biggest phone brands (Xiaomi, Oppo, and Transsion) are cutting their targets for 2026. They didn’t respond to questions, but the report said Oppo could drop shipments by 20% because memory prices are going up too fast.

In December, Counterpoint Research said global smartphone sales could fall 2.1% this year. Higher chip costs are messing with production timelines. Dell and other PC companies are also saying they expect more delays and fewer units built.

The memory business is now focused on AI. Micron, Samsung, and SK Hynix all saw their stocks rise last year. But now the products are sold out. SK Hynix said it has no chips left for 2026. Micron said the same thing about its AI-focused memory for this year.

In December, Micron dropped its Crucial brand for consumer memory. The reason? They want to make sure there’s enough supply for Nvidia and other large AI customers. Demand from that sector is so high that Micron is now racing to build more fabs both in the US and in Asia.

On Saturday, Micron said it’s spending $1.8 billion to buy a plant site in Taiwan that already has some infrastructure. That will save time and get them making DRAM wafers faster. Production at that site will start in the second half of 2027.

DRAM is the type of memory that powers chips made by Nvidia and Intel. It’s a key part of high-bandwidth memory, which lets AI systems do complex tasks. Bhatia said the Taiwan and other Asian sites will keep working on new chip technology. But most of the added capacity is coming to the United States.

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