Micron has told customers and investors that global memory shortages will continue through 2028, with prices climbing in the interim, according to a report by Eurogamer.

The announcement places a multi-year horizon on a supply squeeze that has tightened progressively since 2024. Micron, headquartered in Boise, Idaho, ranks among the three principal suppliers of DRAM globally.

How long will the shortage last?

Micron has stated the constraint will run through 2028 — a roughly three-year window from the present quarter. That horizon exceeds the 12-to-18-month cycles that have historically shaped the sector, suggesting producers view the current tightness as structural rather than temporary.

What is driving the extended shortage?

Demand for memory has accelerated across multiple segments simultaneously. Data center operators building out AI training and inference capacity consume large quantities of high-bandwidth memory. Consumer device shipments — PCs, smartphones, gaming consoles — continue to absorb standard DDR4 and DDR5 modules. New fabrication capacity takes 18 to 24 months from groundbreaking to first wafer-out, leaving supply additions trailing demand.

How are prices moving?

The report indicates memory prices continue to climb. Both contract pricing and spot-market modules have moved higher, with channel distributors passing successive increases downstream to system builders, OEMs, and retail channels.

Who is most exposed?

Buyers dependent on DRAM and NAND include PC manufacturers, smartphone makers, server vendors, and consumer electronics brands. Graphics card makers, which rely on high-capacity memory for AI workloads, also face elevated input costs. Procurement plans built around an assumed price normalization in 2026 will need to be revised.

What does the 2028 timeline imply?

The endpoint suggests the memory industry expects supply additions — including any new fabrication capacity Micron and its competitors bring online — to catch up with demand only at the end of the decade. Until then, the market will operate under sustained pricing pressure and allocation risk.

What is the wider market context?

The three major DRAM suppliers — Micron, Samsung Electronics, and SK Hynix — collectively control the vast majority of global memory wafer production. A multi-year shortage projection from one of the three typically reflects industry-wide supply conditions rather than company-specific issues.

What should buyers do now?

Lock in longer-term contracts where possible, hedge spot-market exposure, and reassess product roadmaps that assumed declining memory costs. Distributors and OEMs planning 2026 and 2027 launches should model higher bill-of-materials costs against the 2028 horizon.

Micron's projection, reported by Eurogamer, gives the memory market a calendar for the first time since the current cycle began, allowing hardware planners to align procurement, pricing, and product strategies with a three-year supply backdrop.