Global RAM Shortages Will Stick Around Until 2028, Micron CEO Warns
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Micron warns that ongoing global RAM shortages driven by enterprise AI demand will persist through 2028, pushing up hardware and console prices for players.
If you were hoping the cost of upgrading your rig or grabbing a new console might stabilize soon, major memory manufacturer Micron has some unfortunate news. According to Eurogamer, Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra warned investors during a recent earnings call that global RAM shortages will persist through 2027 and well into 2028. With most production capacity already booked out for the high-bandwidth memory required by enterprise AI datacentres, consumer-grade hardware is taking a massive hit as supply chains tighten.
This ongoing squeeze has a direct trickle-down effect on the hardware side of gaming. As consumer chips become scarcer, prices for pretty much every device relying on them are climbing. Current-generation consoles have already seen repeated price hikes in various markets, and newer hardware releases like Valve's Steam Machine are landing at higher price points with threats of further increases looming. Even with Micron planning massive capital expenditures to bring new factories online by 2028, executives have made it clear that immediate relief on pricing or availability is simply not on the horizon.
While the enterprise sector is experiencing record-breaking growth, driven by massive demand for cloud memory and custom GPU implementations, everyday players are left paying the price for the broader tech industry's pivot toward artificial intelligence. For anyone looking to build a future-proof PC or waiting for hardware prices to dip, budgeting for inflated components is going to be the reality for a long time. It is a frustrating bottleneck for a community that relies heavily on accessible hardware to keep up with demanding new releases and cross-platform ecosystems.
Tags: Hardware, PC Gaming, Console Gaming, Tech Industry
Original article: Eurogamer