SK hynix, Samsung, Micron among semiconductor industry group lobbying against government intervention on domestic memory chip supply — says move would worsen situation, suggests tax deductions on consumer electronics instead

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Memory chip manufacturers are discouraging the government from meddling with the industry.

RAM
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The SEMI industry association, which includes top memory chip manufacturers Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix, has written a letter to the Trump administration urging against any type of intervention in the memory market that would influence prices or production capacity, saying that it will worsen the shortage. According to Bloomberg, the group sent the letter after a lawmaker sent a letter (PDF) asking the Commerce Department to address the issue as the situation is projected to impact the auto industry.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) wrote to Commerce Sec. Howard Lutnick in April, asking the government to take steps “to ensure that the U.S. auto industry is fully supplied with memory chips.” However, the industry group is against this. “While targeted policies can support accelerating domestic supply resilience, interventions that distort pricing or capacity decisions risk prolonging the demand downturn,” SEMI said in its message to the government. “Current market conditions are being addressed through investments in American manufacturing and an increasing focus on long-term purchase agreements.”

Apple is attempting to address this shortage by lobbying the government to let it purchase memory chips from blacklisted Chinese firm CXMT. SEMI takes a different approach for a temporary solution to the crisis. Instead of allowing a new player to enter the U.S. market, it suggested that the administration should work with Congress to pass tax deductions or credits on consumer electronics, thus offsetting the rising prices caused by the chip shortage.

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The group claims that even though memory manufacturing capacity is expected to increase by around 19% annually. But even though memory makers are building fabs to help expand output, it will take years for these facilities to come online. This means that demand for memory chips, primarily driven by demand from AI hyperscalers, is expected to outstrip supply, with Samsung and SK hynix saying that the shortages could last until 2027 or even longer.

Consumers are looking for alternatives to expensive memory if they need to buy a new computer, which could be seen with increased demand for slower, more affordable DDR4. This has grown so much that companies are restarting production of DDR4 motherboards and memory kits. These are still relatively expensive, though, so the vast majority are simply delaying their planned upgrade, as seen in the 7% drop on PC purchases in the first quarter of 2026, with experts estimating a total of 14% decline in annual deliveries — the biggest market contraction in the last three years.

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Jowi Morales
Jowi Morales
Contributing Writer

Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.

29 Comments Comment from the forums
  • thesyndrome
    The article basically said:
    The poeple who profit the most from the RAM crisis are trying to beg, cajole and threaten anyone who looks to regulate it

    I hope people remember what SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron did in the future, I certainly will....
    Reply
  • TechieTwo
    While I know that consumers are being exploited, unless they are colluting as defined under law, government should not interfere in a free market. The real issue is that massive AI systems are consuming all DRAM that can be produced by all DRAM makers for the next several years. Enterprise is willing to pay a premium and sign contracts to get access to the DRAM they need. That means personal consumers are at the mercy of the marketplace.

    I personally do not blame the DRAM makers as demand exceeds supply. It is no different in any market be it autos, homes, PCs, eggs, paper products, steel, glass and everything else that has become more of a commodity than a simple product for sale. I would however strongly oppose ANY subsidies by government to help DRAM companies now or in the future after the unethical exorbitant price hikes.
    Reply
  • usertests
    thesyndrome said:
    I hope people remember what SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron did in the future, I certainly will....
    All you need to remember is "Buy low, sell (or wait if) high". Getting mad at these companies will do nothing for you.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    thesyndrome said:
    The article basically said:
    The poeple who profit the most from the RAM crisis are trying to beg, cajole and threaten anyone who looks to regulate it
    I hope people remember what SK Hynix, Samsung, and Micron did in the future, I certainly will....
    IMO, it's a little bit missing the forest for the trees. I think the Federal Reserve should've seen inflation ticking up and acted sooner to keep it in check. That almost certainly would've helped with memory prices, as well as other areas of the economy being affected by inflation. It's not only memory being affected. Production of logic dies is also starting see price increases, as are a lot of raw materials. Memory is just the worst-affected.

    Blaming the industry for lobbying against regulation... it's kind of hard to think of a scenario where that wouldn't happen. It's a bit like faulting a wolf for eating your sheep. That's just in its nature.

    Maybe a better conclusion would be: Hate the game, not the players.
    That said, if they are found to be guilty of price-fixing, then I certainly wouldn't try to excuse them of such an offense.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    usertests said:
    All you need to remember is "Buy low, sell (or wait if) high". Getting mad at these companies will do nothing for you.
    People have a right to be angry about the situation. However, the tendency is to try and find a villain. I don't think memory companies deserve (most of) the blame, here*.

    * Unless they're found guilty of price fixing. But, even then, I'm sure it's still not responsible for most of the price increases.
    Reply
  • usertests
    bit_user said:
    People have a right to be angry about the situation. However, the tendency is to try and find a villain. I don't think memory companies deserve (most of) the blame, here*.

    * Unless they're found guilty of price fixing. But, even then, I'm sure it's still not responsible for most of the price increases.
    I saw a robust debate about that in the class action lawsuit thread. Seems premature but maybe getting to the discovery stage is the point.

    OT: iPhone 18 Pro is moving from 64-bit to 96-bit bus. But possibly still using LPDDR5X rather than the obvious LPDDR6. The leak probably dripped out of a 630 GB hack of Apple data/docs.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    usertests said:
    OT: iPhone 18 Pro is moving from 64-bit to 96-bit bus. But possibly still using LPDDR5X rather than the obvious LPDDR6. The leak probably dripped out of a 630 GB hack of Apple data/docs.
    Is anything using LPDDR6, yet? Even Nvidia's Vera is still just using LPDDR5X. Though, I guess it would make sense to see LPDDR6 show up in phones, first.

    As for 96-bit, I mean... for edge AI, yeah. But, that also demands a lot of memory capacity. So, I dunno. A 96-bit interface would at least give them more capacity options.
    Reply
  • Fomdoo
    TechieTwo said:
    While I know that consumers are being exploited, unless they are colluting as defined under law, government should not interfere in a free market. The real issue is that massive AI systems are consuming all DRAM that can be produced by all DRAM makers for the next several years. Enterprise is willing to pay a premium and sign contracts to get access to the DRAM they need. That means personal consumers are at the mercy of the marketplace.

    I personally do not blame the DRAM makers as demand exceeds supply. It is no different in any market be it autos, homes, PCs, eggs, paper products, steel, glass and everything else that has become more of a commodity than a simple product for sale. I would however strongly oppose ANY subsidies by government to help DRAM companies now or in the future after the unethical exorbitant price hikes.
    The governments are customers as well. It's stupid to do nothing. This what happens when companies have little to no competition.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Fomdoo said:
    This what happens when companies have little to no competition.
    It actually has almost nothing to do with competition. That's like blaming high oil prices on lack of competition, when there are hundreds of oil-producers. In either case, supply is relatively inelastic. So, when demand spikes, the suppliers cannot immediately react and the result is price spikes.

    BTW, did you know that, even in the past 4 months, US oil producers didn't increase production? It's like with the memory companies, where they wouldn't want to ramp up production, only to face a supply glut right when it comes online, crashing the price. So, most of the missing supply from the middle east got made up for by drawing down strategic petroleum reserves, in the US, China, and elsewhere.

    So, I guess there's a solution: strategic memory reserve?
    : D
    Reply
  • thestryker
    TechieTwo said:
    While I know that consumers are being exploited, unless they are colluting as defined under law, government should not interfere in a free market.
    It's hardly a free market since memory manufacturers have absolutely gotten government subsidies (and continue to). There's something to be said for a government stepping in when the supply is being so dominated by a single industry it puts other industries at risk. In theory governments are supposed to work for their populace and something tells me most people care about their electricity and car prices significantly more than they do about data center build outs and memory manufacturer profits.

    At the same time while I would be leery about how most recent US governments would handle this situation I very much don't trust the current one.
    Reply