Micron Technology (MU), a key supplier to Nvidia (NVDA), said the global memory-chip shortage has intensified over the past quarter and will extend beyond this year, driven by surging demand for advanced semiconductors used in AI infrastructure.
“The shortage we’re seeing is truly unprecedented,” said Manish Bhatia, Micron’s executive vice president of operations, in an interview with Bloomberg following the company’s groundbreaking ceremony for a planned $100B manufacturing complex near Syracuse, New York, on Friday. His comments reinforced guidance Micron first outlined in December.
Bhatia said high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators is “consuming so much of the available capacity across the industry that it’s leaving a tremendous shortage for the conventional side of the industry, for phones or PCs.” As a result, PC and smartphone makers are now scrambling to secure memory supply for periods beyond 2026.
Shares of the three global memory leaders—Micron (MU), SK Hynix (HXSC.F), and Samsung Electronics (SSNLF)—rallied in 2025 on the back of the AI boom. SK Hynix has said its entire 2026 chip output is already sold out, while Micron has reported that its AI-focused memory products are fully booked for this year.
To prioritize strategic enterprise customers such as Nvidia, Micron announced in December that it would exit its Crucial-branded consumer memory business. The relentless demand from AI workloads has also accelerated Micron’s manufacturing expansion across the U.S. and Asia.
On Saturday, Micron (MU) announced plans to acquire a chip fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation in an all-cash deal worth $1.8B. The chipmaker expects the acquisition to contribute to meaningful DRAM wafer output for the company starting in the second half of calendar 2027.
“What we’ll be doing at our Asian sites is continuing to transition to the next generation of technology,” Bhatia said during the Friday interview.
In the U.S., Micron (MU) is adding two fabs worth of capacity in Boise alongside existing research and development facilities there.
Last year, the company announced plans to expand its U.S. investments to around $150B in domestic memory manufacturing and $50B in R&D, creating an estimated 90,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The ~$200B broader U.S. expansion vision includes two high-volume fabs in Idaho, up to four high-volume fabs in New York, and the expansion and modernization of its existing manufacturing fab in Virginia.
These investments are designed to allow Micron (MU) to meet expected market demand and support its goal of producing 40% of its DRAM in the U.S.