DRAM

Micron broke ground on July 4 on a ¥1.5 trillion ($9.3 billion) expansion of its Hiroshima fab to scale next-generation DRAM and HBM for AI, with Japan's METI pledging up to ¥500 billion in subsidies and equipment installation set to begin in the second half of 2028.

Cook told the WSJ that AI-driven memory shortages make price hikes unavoidable. TechInsights estimates the iPhone 18 Pro needs a $270 increase to hold margins.

Samsung Electronics is negotiating three-to-five-year memory supply agreements with Google and Microsoft that could include more than 10 billion dollars in prepayments, as hyperscalers move to secure chip capacity amid a structural AI-driven shortage.

Micron Technology posted record fiscal Q2 revenue of 23.9 billion dollars, nearly tripling year over year on surging AI memory demand, while guiding fiscal Q3 to 33.5 billion dollars -- a single quarter that would exceed its entire annual revenue through fiscal 2024.

Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have all confirmed high-volume HBM4 production for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform at GTC 2026, with 12-layer stacks delivering 2.8 TB/s bandwidth and 16-layer samples already shipping to customers.

Both GPU makers are shifting mainstream production to 8 GB models as DRAM prices surge 180 percent, MSI calls 2026 its hardest year since founding, and IDC warns the sub-$500 PC market may vanish by 2028.