If you think GPU shortages were bad, wait until you hear what is happening to memory. Yesterday, three major developments hit the memory industry almost back to back. Together, they confirm that we are entering a global memory shortage that will affect PCs, smartphones, SSDs, and even AI data centers for the next year or two.

This is not a normal cycle. This looks like a structural shift.

Shock 1: Transcend Raises the Red Flag

Transcend informed its customers that SanDisk and Samsung abruptly cut their NAND Flash supply for the fourth quarter. They have not received new shipments since October. Pricing jumped 50 to 100 percent in just one week.

Lead times are now longer, pricing is abnormal, and the situation is expected to continue for at least 3 to 5 months.

If a major brand like Transcend cannot secure components, imagine what smaller players are facing. This is a direct warning that the supply chain is already breaking.

Shock 2: Micron Walks Away From Crucial Consumer Products

Micron officially announced its exit from its long-running Crucial consumer business. Instead of competing in the low-margin consumer memory space, Micron is concentrating on AI-driven DRAM, high bandwidth memory (HBM), and enterprise grade SSDs.

This confirms that consumer memory shortages and price increases are not short term. They are a structural result of the industry prioritizing AI and data center products.

When a company like Micron steps away from consumer memory, that already tells you where the market is heading.

Shock 3: Reuters Confirms a Full Global Memory Crisis

Reuters surveyed nearly 40 supply chain experts and confirmed what the industry has been whispering for months. The world is now facing the most severe memory shortage in a decade.

The shortage affects almost everything:
• Mobile memory
• PC DRAM
• USB storage
• NAND Flash
• High Bandwidth Memory for AI GPUs

The ecosystem is squeezed at every level.

How Did We Get Here? The AI Avalanche

Everything traces back to November 2022, when ChatGPT launched and the world rushed to build AI infrastructure.

Google, Microsoft, Meta, Alibaba, and ByteDance ramped up construction of AI data centers. This forced Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron to shift massive production capacity to HBM.

Here is the problem
• HBM supply still cannot meet AI demand
• Traditional memory products lost capacity
• Consumer electronics are now facing shortages

DRAM inventory fell from 13 to 17 weeks down to only 2 to 4 weeks. That is basically no buffer left.

New fabs take two years or more to build. Manufacturers know the risk of overbuilding, so they are not expanding aggressively. This leads to a supply chain that cannot keep up with demand.

Big Tech Panic Buys Everything Available

The reaction from big tech is intense. Companies are no longer negotiating. They are panic buying.

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, and the major Chinese tech giants all told suppliers the same message:
We will take everything you can produce. Price does not matter.

Nvidia accepted a 60 percent increase in server memory costs just to lock in supply.

SK Hynix confirmed that all their 2026 output is already sold out. Samsung reported that its HBM supply for next year is fully committed as well.

OpenAI also entered the race. The upcoming Stargate project could demand 900,000 wafers per month by 2029. That is equivalent to double today’s global HBM capacity.

This is how extreme the demand has become.

Consumer Electronics Are Getting Squeezed Hard

Smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi and Realme are warning about possible 20 to 30 percent price hikes by mid 2026. They describe the current memory cost increase as something they have never seen before.

Laptop makers such as Asus are monitoring the situation closely. With inventory running thinner, pricing adjustments are expected.

Retail Panic Hits Japan, China, and the United States

In Akihabara, Tokyo, stores are imposing purchase limits to prevent hoarding. DDR5 pricing tells the story clearly. A 32 GB kit that was around 17,000 yen in October is now over 47,000 yen.

Some shops report that one third of their RAM inventory is already gone.

In China, prices update hourly. Some dealers are stockpiling tens of thousands of DDR4 units to ride the surge. Even in the United States, recyclers pulling memory chips from retired servers are seeing record demand from Hong Kong and China buyers.

What Happens Next?

In summary,
• Prices will rise
• Lead times will stretch
• Supply will stay tight

Analysts expect around 30 percent price increases by the fourth quarter and possibly another 20 percent rise by early 2026. Relief may only arrive when new fabs start operating in 2027 or 2028.

What we are witnessing is the collision of AI acceleration and the physical limits of memory manufacturing. AI data centers, PC builders, smartphone brands, and even regular consumers are fighting over the same shrinking supply.

And right now, AI is winning that fight.

This is one of the biggest stories shaping the tech landscape for 2025 and beyond. The global memory shortage is no longer a prediction. It is already here, and we are just seeing the beginning.