Memory‑chip supply crunch

Storage chips that hold data in phones, routers and streaming sticks are getting scarce and more expensive, and Phison’s chief executive says some budget-device makers may not survive 2026. (uk.news.yahoo.com) In an interview cited by Yahoo News on April 13, Phison chief executive Pua Khein-Seng said artificial-intelligence demand is absorbing so much memory output that some consumer-electronics production lines could shut down. He said the weakest part of the market is low-cost hardware sold on thin margins. (uk.news.yahoo.com) The warning covers two basic parts: dynamic random-access memory, which is the short-term working memory in a device, and NAND flash, which is the long-term storage that keeps apps, photos and operating systems. Phison said low-end routers, streaming sticks and smartphones would feel the squeeze first because they compete hardest on price. (techpowerup.com) (uk.news.yahoo.com) The pressure is coming from the same place as the artificial-intelligence server boom. High-bandwidth memory, a premium memory stacked close to artificial-intelligence processors, has soaked up capacity at the three companies that dominate memory supply: Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron. (cnbc.com) That shift is already showing up in prices. TrendForce said on March 31 that NAND flash contract prices had “skyrocketed,” and Yahoo Finance reported last week that TrendForce now expects NAND contract prices to rise 70% to 75% quarter over quarter in the second quarter of 2026. (trendforce.com) (finance.yahoo.com) TrendForce’s public market notes also say tight supply of low-capacity NAND flash is colliding with rising smartphone storage needs in 2026. That is the part of the market used most heavily in cheaper phones and embedded gadgets, not just top-end data-center gear. (dramexchange.com) Phison’s forecast is harsher than most analyst notes, but it lines up with the broader supply picture. TechPowerUp, citing the same interview from February 17, reported that Pua expects smartphone production to fall by 200 million to 250 million units, with personal-computer and television output also cut. (techpowerup.com) Memory makers are not describing a collapse in their own business. CNBC reported in January that Micron’s Sumit Sadana said demand had risen faster than the industry could supply it, while SK Hynix’s investor-relations site lists earnings releases showing the company had already booked supply deep into 2026. (cnbc.com) (skhynix.com) For shoppers, the likely change is less about flagship phones than about what disappears from the bargain shelf. If memory stays expensive through 2026, the cheapest devices may ship with less storage, higher prices, or not ship at all. (uk.news.yahoo.com) (dramexchange.com)