If you feel like your PC upgrades are getting more expensive, you aren’t imagining it. Sadly, it doesn’t look like things are going to get better any time soon. Micron‘s CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, recently said in an interview with CNBC that we are only in the “first innings” of the AI era, which means the shortage product of the pressure on RAM supply is more the “new normal” than just a phase.
Micron warns of increasing memory supply shortage because AI
This year, the demand for DRAM and NAND coming purely from AI is expected to swallow more than 50% of the entire industry’s capacity. Think about that—half of the world’s memory production is now dedicated to keeping AI models running.
This creates a massive supply gap because, as Mehrotra points out, you can’t just flip a switch to build more factories. We are facing an “inference inflection,” where AI models need more “tokens” to think. In turn, those tokens require incredibly fast, high-density memory to actually deliver results.
The impact on your next upgrade
Beyond simply a corporate problem, this is hitting directly in our wallets. Here is how the fallout looks for the average user:
The 32GB baseline: For years, 16GB was the sweet spot for gaming and work. Now, if you want to run Agentic AI workflows locally, 32GB is becoming the minimum choice.
Shrinking shipments: Micron expects PC and mobile sales to drop by low double digits. It’s not that people don’t want new phones; it’s that supply is tight and prices are climbing.
NVIDIA’s “retro” solution: In a wild twist, rumors suggest NVIDIA might bring back the RTX 3060 with 12GB of VRAM this June. Using older GDDR6 memory instead of the latest standards allows the company to give gamers a high-capacity option without fighting AI companies for the newest chips.
The strategic tech race
Behind the scenes, the tech is getting wild. Micron is working on HBM4 (High Bandwidth Memory) chips with 36GB capacity for NVIDIA’s upcoming Vera Rubin platform. They’ve even unveiled a 256GB SOCAMM2 module that can technically scale up to a massive 2TB.
You probably miss the days when RAM was a cheap commodity. Many even skipped upgrades to this component since they could do it at any time. Sadly, nowadays, these memory chips are more like a “strategic asset” for big tech giants. So, we, the mainstream consumer, are last in line in terms of importance and profit.
You can watch the full interview on CNBC below.
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