Micron exec suggests Apple’s aggressive purchasing tactics helped fuel memory shortage - 9to5Mac

Following Micron Technology's strong quarterly earnings report, Chief Business Officer Sumit Sadana suggested in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that Apple's aggressive purchasing tactics ma... Read original →

Apple’s aggressive memory procurement suppressed DRAM/NAND pricing during the 2022–2023 downturn, inadvertently curbing Micron and peers’ capex. Though Micron now reports 85% gross margins, delayed capacity expansion has triggered end-product price hikes in MacBooks and iPads. Technically, this slows adoption of HBM and LPDDR5X, hampering AI PC and edge computing rollouts. From a compliance standpoint, long-term fixed-price deals with dominant buyers risk antitrust scrutiny under tightening U.S.-EU supply chain transparency rules. Competitors like Samsung and SK Hynix may pivot toward datacenter and automotive segments, reducing exposure to volatile consumer electronics. Over the next 18 months, suppliers will likely enforce minimum volume commitments and dynamic pricing clauses—shifting inventory risk back to OEMs. This shortage isn’t about absolute capacity; it’s a structural misalignment between procurement strategy and investment cycles.