Phison warns: RAM shortage could wipe out companies
Phison, a major manufacturer of controller chips for SSDs and other flash memory devices, has warned that the ongoing global RAM shortage could impact the entire industry in 2026.
Phison CEO Pua Khein-Seng spoke in a televised interview with Taiwanese broadcaster Next TV. While the interview was conducted in Chinese, The Verge managed to confirm parts of a machine-translated summary through sources. According to Khein-Seng, some companies may need to scale back or discontinue product lines, or in the worst case, shut down entirely if they cannot secure enough RAM.
Khein-Seng also noted that consumers may increasingly repair products rather than replace them in the coming years as supply constraints persist, according to The Verge.
The shortage is partly driven by the expansion of AI data centres, which are consuming large portions of the world’s memory supply, creating a significant supply-demand imbalance. Evertiq has previously reported on RAM price increases over recent months.
Market research firm TrendForce forecasts that contract prices for conventional DRAM will rise 90–95% in Q1 2026 compared with the previous quarter, an upward revision from an earlier estimate of 55–60%. NAND Flash prices are now expected to increase 55–60% quarter-on-quarter, up from 33–38%, with potential for further revisions. TrendForce attributes the increases to a widening supply-demand gap, particularly in server-related segments, as cloud service providers secure capacity while suppliers maintain disciplined output strategies.
The DRAM market is dominated by only three players, Micron, Samsung and SK hynix, controlling about 93% of the DRAM market. While these companies are expanding production capacity, The Verge reports they prioritise profitability over rapid overproduction, contributing to the tight supply.
Micron, one of the three major players, announced in December 2025 that it will exit the Crucial consumer business after 29 years. Shipments of Crucial consumer products will continue through the end of fiscal Q2, February 2026. Enterprise memory and storage products will continue to be supplied globally to commercial customers.
According to the company, the decision is linked to increased demand for memory and storage in data centres, driven by AI-related growth.
At the time, Sumit Sadana, Micron’s EVP and Chief Business Officer, said that AI-driven growth in data centres has led to sharply increased demand for memory and storage. Micron therefore decided to exit Crucial’s consumer business to improve supply and support for larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments.