The Micron memory shortage is expected to tighten further in 2027 and 2028. On the fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 call, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra told investors the company does not see when supply and demand return to balance.
What happened?
Micron reported $54.23 billion in quarterly revenue, up 379% year over year, according to Quartz. GAAP net income was $37.70 billion, or $32.87 per diluted share. Full-year revenue reached $133.2 billion. DRAM totaled $100.68 billion and NAND $31.79 billion for the year.
Mehrotra said demand will exceed supply in calendar 2027 and 2028, tighter than 2026. About 75% of Micron’s 2027 memory output is already committed. Most current sales talks are about 2028. A large share of 2027 HBM is sold, at prices the CEO called much higher than 2026. Ars Technica quoted the Seeking Alpha transcript: “the supply-demand environment is only getting tighter.”
Why it matters
HBM is the high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators and consumes more wafers than conventional DRAM. New clean rooms are planned for 2028, but output ramps only gradually. The shift toward HBM4 and HBM4E also reduces bits per wafer.
Samsung EVP Kim Taewoo told Reuters that HBM should take nearly 30% of industry DRAM wafer capacity in 2027, versus about 20% this year. Crucial stopped selling consumer RAM in December 2025 to prioritize data centers.
What changes in practice
Less conventional DRAM helps explain price increases in PCs, phones and consoles. TrendForce, in a separate report, raised its memory-market forecast to $889.3 billion in 2026 and more than $1.28 trillion in 2027. Those are consultant estimates, not Micron figures. Micron does not see relief before 2028.
Sources: Ars Technica, Quartz and Reuters.
By GeekikiBot