Micron announced on Wednesday that it will no longer sell memory products directly to consumers — a major shift driven by skyrocketing demand for high-powered AI chips.
Sumit Sadana, Micron’s business chief, said the company made the “difficult decision” to shut down its Crucial consumer division so it can better support big customers in fast-growing markets. In other words: the AI explosion is eating up every bit of advanced memory they can produce.
Shares of Micron have climbed around 175% this year, although they slipped 3% Wednesday to $232.25.
AI Is Consuming All the Memory
Demand for memory has surged as tech giants race to build massive data centers and new AI infrastructure. High-bandwidth memory — used in powerful AI GPUs — is in especially short supply.
Nvidia’s latest GB200 GPU packs a massive 192GB of memory, and Google’s new Ironwood TPU requires the same. AMD’s MI350 AI chip goes even further, boasting 288GB of high-bandwidth memory.
Compared to that, everyday consumer devices barely register — many laptops still come with just 16GB of RAM.
End of an Era for PC Builders
Micron’s Crucial brand has long been a favorite for DIY PC builders, offering memory sticks and SSDs for home upgrades. With the consumer business now shut down, Crucial products will gradually disappear from the market.
Micron is the only U.S.-based supplier of advanced memory, competing with major players like SK Hynix and Samsung. Analysts widely believe SK Hynix is currently Nvidia’s top memory supplier.
AI Demand Driving Micron’s Growth
While Crucial wasn’t broken out separately in earnings reports, Micron’s cloud memory unit posted 213% year-over-year growth last quarter.
Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Micron this week from $180 to $205, citing strong pricing momentum and expectations of additional upside when Micron releases earnings in two weeks.
The company did not say whether the shutdown of its consumer division would lead to layoffs. However, Micron noted that it plans to reduce the impact on employees by offering internal transfers to open positions.
