After Micron declared its intention to phase out its 29-year-old consumer-grade brand, Crucial, by the end of 2025, memory behemoth SK Hynix may follow suit and exit the consumer-grade DRAM and NAND markets. Insider sources reveal that SK Hynix is contemplating taking a cue from Micron, withdrawing its production capacity from the low-margin consumer market, and redirecting its focus toward the high-margin AI data center storage sector. If these reports hold true, it would signify another major memory company's departure from the consumer market, following in Micron's footsteps.

From the latter half of 2025 to early 2026, global memory module prices skyrocketed, with some products witnessing price surges exceeding 200%, even reaching a point where "a single box of memory modules was as valuable as a house." The primary catalyst behind the memory price hikes was the structural supply-demand imbalance brought on by the AI industry's explosive growth. AI servers demand 8 to 10 times more memory than conventional servers, consuming 53% of the global monthly production capacity and crowding out consumer-grade memory production. Industry giants such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron are expediting production capacity restructuring, concentrating their resources on high-end, high-margin products like HBM and DDR5. Simultaneously, they are halting capital investments and technological advancements for DDR4 and reducing its share of production capacity.

Furthermore, as a pivotal supporting storage solution for AI, HBM has witnessed a surge in market enthusiasm, with prices for related products climbing over 30%. Manufacturers like Samsung and SK Hynix have nearly sold out their HBM production capacities. The market generally anticipates that memory shortages will persist throughout 2026 and may even extend until 2028. The consumer market is expected to encounter stricter production capacity constraints and risks of price volatility.