The memory chip industry is having its best run in years, powered by an insatiable appetite for AI infrastructure. But the companies fueling that demand are simultaneously working to need less of it.
Nvidia is redesigning its Vera Rubin platform to reduce high-bandwidth memory usage, while Cerebras is building AI chips that skip HBM entirely. The very customers driving record revenues for memory makers are innovating their way toward using fewer chips.
The boom, by the numbers
Right now, business has never been better for the big three memory producers: Micron Technology, Samsung, and SK Hynix. Micron shares have peaked above $1,200, a record high riding the AI wave.
DRAM prices have surged between 80% and 90% in recent quarters, driven almost entirely by AI-related shortages.
