Micron Technology is reportedly moving to double its high-bandwidth memory production capacity by the end of 2026, according to South Korea’s Electronic Times. The US chipmaker produced between 40,000 and 50,000 HBM wafers per month last year; an increase of about 60,000 wafers per month would lift capacity to roughly 100,000 wafers by year-end. The expansion focuses on next-generation 12-layer HBM4 products used with AI processors such as Nvidia’s Rubin graphics processing units.
The move comes as Micron faces intensifying competition. Counterpoint Research data shows Samsung Electronics more than doubled its global HBM share to 33% in the second quarter of 2026 from 15% a year earlier, while Micron’s share slipped to 18% from 21%—its first decline after three straight quarters at 21%. Micron has not commented on the reported expansion.
AI demand has transformed the memory business. Jack Gold, principal analyst at J.Gold Associates, said memory makers were long stuck in low-cost commodity memory, but demand for premium HBM is now insatiable because margins are high. Micron shares rose 6.1% on Friday and are up 256% this year. The company has committed at least $200 billion to US memory manufacturing and research and is building a $24 billion semiconductor facility in Singapore. Deloitte expects combined capital expenditure by Micron, Samsung and SK Hynix to rise nearly 340% between 2024 and 2027.
The supply crunch is also showing in prices. The Roundhill Memory ETF gained almost 18% over the past month. TrendForce expects DRAM and NAND Flash to account for 47% of cloud service providers’ capital expenditure in 2026, rising to 68% in 2027. Spot DDR5 16G DRAM prices jumped from $6.20 in early August 2025 to $54 as of September 3, 2026, a 775.6% increase, according to a Seeking Alpha report. Samsung recently overtook Nvidia as the world’s most profitable company, while Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron account for about 73% of the Roundhill Memory ETF’s assets.
Risk remains on the horizon. Memory markets are historically cyclical, and analysts caution that today’s shortage could become oversupply. D.A. Davidson managing director Gil Luria said demand for HBM is already more than double current supply and growing fast, so even a significant Micron expansion will likely not be enough to meet demand in that timeframe. China’s CXMT has also started producing advanced HBM in small quantities, but additional competition may do little to ease immediate constraints. Investors will ultimately have to judge whether the AI boom can absorb the wave of new memory capacity.
