The rise of artificial intelligence systems and large investments in data centers that power them will drive memory chip revenues to levels of absolute recordaccording to the analysis firm specialized in semiconductors, TrendForce.
The limitation of supply and the rapid increase in prices will increase the total value of the memory market up to $551.6 billionaccording to the consultant. Data never seen before, well above the previous memory supercycle, from 2017 to 2019, driven mainly by cloud data center expansions.
This time, AI-driven cycle is even more supply-constrained and structurally stricter. Increased attention is being paid to real-time responsiveness and efficient data access as the AI industry moves from model training to large-scale inference, supporting growth in demand for high-capacity, high-bandwidth server-side DRAM, along with increasing per-server memory configurations.
Additionally, leading AI platforms such as NVIDIA Rubin are driving demand for high-performance storage, highlighting the need for enterprise solid state drives. To optimize token generation performance and maintain profitability, operators will increasingly use cheaper-to-produce, high-capacity Quad Layer (QLC) SSDs to meet high data access demands.
Another key difference with respect to previous cycles lies in the profile of the buyers. Instead of being primarily led by end device manufacturers, the current wave is driven by CSPs. Procurement volumes are growing exponentially, and their relatively lower Price sensitivity has allowed for record price increases, far greater than those seen in the previous super cycle.
AI vs. client computing
Not everything is positive news… 2026 will be a terrible year for the electronic market focused on the customer customer. The hoarding of memory chips for AI is causing a shortage of components and price increases suffered by consumers, professionals, companies, retailers and also original equipment manufacturers.
There is fear of a drop in sales of personal computers that could reach double digits and the return of the use of older standards, chips and technologies in a worrying technological backslide in order to reduce price increases. Everything indicates that the memory crisis is going to change the dynamics of the market in the next two years and there are already estimates that the PC market is heading towards a variation of the positive trend with drops that could reach double digits and total pre-COVID pandemic values.
