Micron

.Founded in a Boise basement in 1978, Micron grew from a small design consultancy to a leading DRAM maker with 20% of the global market. Facing soaring AI‑driven demand, Micron will exit the consumer memory segment and retire its Crucial brand by February 2026, redirecting wafer capacity to higher‑margin enterprise products such as HBM and DDR5. This shift reflects a broader industry realignment, where AI data centers dominate revenue growth, driving price spikes, tighter supply, and increased concentration among the three major DRAM suppliers, reshaping the consumer market and raising concerns about future availability and cost.

Micron announced it will exit the consumer “Crucial” memory business to focus on high‑performance AI chips and high‑bandwidth memory for data‑center workloads. The shift aims to meet surging AI‑driven demand and reallocate capacity to higher‑margin segments, despite a 3% stock dip after the news. Micron now competes with SK Hynix and Samsung as the sole U.S. supplier, supporting Nvidia, AMD and Google’s AI accelerators, while analysts raise its price target amid strong cloud‑memory growth.

Micron reported strong earnings, exceeding expectations with $3.03 EPS and $11.32 billion revenue. Fueled by surging demand for memory and storage, particularly High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for AI, Micron forecasts $12.5 billion revenue for the next quarter. Net income jumped to $3.2 billion. The company’s stock has nearly doubled YTD. Cloud sales tripled, while core data center sales declined 22%. CEO Mehrotra highlighted Micron’s position to capitalize on the AI opportunity and domestic manufacturing focus.

China’s YMTC has sued Micron Technology in the US, alleging defamation and disinformation. The lawsuit stems from a long-standing rivalry in memory chip manufacturing, exacerbated by YMTC’s innovative “Xtacking” technology and Micron’s alleged attempts to hinder its growth. YMTC claims Micron infringed on its patents, while Micron denies the allegations and accuses YMTC of infringement. The legal battle highlights the intensifying competition and strategic maneuvers within the global semiconductor industry.

YMTC has filed a third lawsuit against Micron, alleging a smear campaign to damage its market position. Accusations include Micron funding efforts to discredit YMTC through false rumors, particularly regarding backdoors in YMTC chips. YMTC seeks corrective advertising, damages, and profit disgorgement. This lawsuit follows YMTC’s 2023 patent infringement suit and Micron’s counterclaims, with a court order for Micron to produce confidential documents adding further complexity.

In a legal dispute between Micron and YMTC, Micron is fighting to avoid handing over 73 pages of 3D NAND technology documents to the Chinese company. Micron, citing national security concerns due to YMTC’s placement on the US entity list, considers the court’s decision to grant YMTC access to the documents flawed. The conflict began in November 2023 with YMTC alleging patent infringement.

Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3E memory is facing delays in obtaining NVIDIA certification, potentially pushing the timeline to Q4 2025. This setback for the tech giant, which previously aimed for earlier certification dates, could impact its market strategy and revenue. Meanwhile, competitors like Micron are poised to gain market share, as they are actively pursuing HBM3E opportunities, notably with NVIDIA’s GB300 project.

Micron has begun shipping samples of its 1γ LPDDR5X memory, targeting next-gen AI smartphones. This advanced, low-power DRAM boasts industry-leading 10.7Gbps speeds, up to 20% lower power consumption, and the thinnest packaging in the industry at 0.61mm. This marks a significant advancement in mobile memory, utilizing EUV lithography. Competitors like Samsung and SK Hynix are also developing their own 1c DRAM solutions, intensifying the competition in the mobile memory market.

The NAND flash market faced a tough Q1 2025, with a 15% ASP drop and 7% shipment decline due to inventory pressure and weak demand. The top five suppliers’ combined revenue fell nearly 24%. Samsung led, but revenue decreased by 25%. Micron rose to third despite ASP drops. Despite the downturn, a rebound of about 10% in sequential revenue is anticipated in Q2.