Memory executives expect RAM shortage to continue through 2028

Micron and Samsung both say the memory crunch is going to last. This week, executives from the two companies said the shortage should continue for at least the next couple of years, with Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra telling investors that demand for Micron’s memory is expected to stay ahead of supply through that stretch.

Micron’s comments are about business customers, not retail sticks of RAM. The company no longer sells consumer memory, so Mehrotra was talking about high-bandwidth memory for AI and DRAM for servers. But the effect doesn’t stay neatly inside datacenters. When manufacturers point more capacity at AI and server products, less of that capacity is left for the memory that ends up in consumer devices.

That is the real pressure point here. The shortage is not just a temporary wobble in one corner of the market; it is being shaped by what the industry is choosing to build first. AI systems and servers are getting priority, and that leaves everyone else competing for what’s left.

For people buying laptops, desktops, or other consumer hardware, that usually means less breathing room. The source doesn’t give a neat end date beyond the “next couple of years,” and that may be the most important part: this is being framed as a long stretch, not a quick fix.