Memory articles

china cxmt shanghai memory financials

Chinese memory firm CXMT relied on leaked Samsung technology to skip years of R&D, court testimony claims

A former Samsung engineer testified the startup lacked basic lab facilities from the start
Cutting corners: Building a memory chip from the absolute ground up takes years and costs a fortune. ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) apparently decided to skip the hard part – and today, the company stands as China's biggest DRAM producer. A South Korean court recently heard some fairly wild details about how the memory maker actually got its start.
apple a20 pro dram iphone chip memory tsmc shortage

Apple's A20 Pro production is going smoothly, except DRAM supply is bottlenecking iPhone assembly

TSMC is sitting on $1 billion worth of finished iPhone chips with nowhere to go
Ripple effect: In the run-up to the launch of the foldable iPhone Ultra, iPhone 18, and iPhone 18 Pro, Apple and its assemblers are working to secure enough mobile DRAM. Apple leans heavily on Micron for these chips and also buys from SK Hynix and Samsung. People involved say they still expect to meet initial demand, but they worry online wait times could stretch and store inventory could run out quickly if the shortage continues.
microsoft 32gb ram pcs windows memory bloatware supply chain windows 11

Microsoft removes support page recommending 32GB RAM for gaming PCs

Microsoft's post called 16GB "plenty" and 32GB ideal for demanding titles
Ripple effect: The global memory shortage is battering the entire IT industry, and PC manufacturing is feeling it most acutely. Microsoft is well aware of the problem – so aware, in fact, that it's now scrambling to walk back its own earlier guidance on how much RAM a gaming PC actually needs.
mojang minecraft 16gb ram fancy memory system requirements with video

Mojang changes Minecraft system requirements after 17 years, recommends 16GB of RAM for "Fancy" graphics

Minecraft's move to modern hardware requirements sets up its shift from OpenGL to Vulkan
Winners & losers: For the first time in nearly two decades, Mojang has announced a significant change in Minecraft's hardware requirements, a rare move for one of the biggest gaming products in history. The Microsoft-owned studio wants to future-proof Minecraft: Java Edition, but players running older hardware won't be cheering this time around.
nand adata dram flash memory trendforce

NAND shortages could finally ease in 2027, but ADATA warns the DRAM crisis may last another 10 years

TrendForce expects supply growth to overtake demand, while AI keeps pressure on DRAM
Crystal ball: Maybe we're worrying too much about the current memory crisis: according to TrendForce, NAND flash supply growth will outpace demand next year, with supply constraints easing in the second half of 2027. Or maybe we're not worrying enough: Adata's chairman says DRAM shortages will last another decade and that memory and electricity will become the world's two scarcest resources.