Crucial Is Leaving the Consumer Market to Meet AI Data Center Demand

Micron is pulling Crucial, its user products concern – not due to the fact that radical aren't buying it, but due to the fact that shoveling the products straight into the insatiable maw of AI information centers is much profitable. The institution announced contiguous (via The Verge) that it volition beryllium winding down the merchantability of Crucial user products – deliberation high-quality fund RAM and SSDs – astatine the extremity of February 2026.

"The AI-driven maturation successful the information halfway has led to a surge successful request for representation and storage," EVP and main concern serviceman of Micron Sumit Sadana said, "Micron has made the hard determination to exit the Crucial user concern successful bid to amended proviso and enactment for our larger, strategical customers successful faster-growing segments."

To punctuation Ronny Cox's Dick Jones, the main firm villain of the 1987 movie Robocop, "Good concern is wherever you find it."

Micron's announcement is conscionable further heartbreak for PC builders, particularly those who person relied for years connected Crucial parts' prime and affordability to upgrade oregon assemble their computers. (The Crucial MX500 has been our go-to fund SSD for years, portion the T500 is our favourite worth SSD for PS5.) But Crucial whitethorn lone beryllium the archetypal large casualty of the monolithic and increasing representation request of the AI industry, which has already pb to unpredictable catch-of-the-day benignant terms swings successful RAM, arsenic PCWorld reported past month. And the unit connected components prices could reverberate crossed high-end gaming for years to come. For instance, rumors past period suggested that Microsoft volition yet again rise prices connected its Xbox Series X/S consoles – oregon that they could go unavailable altogether – owed to the outgo of RAM.

Wes is simply a freelance writer (Freelance Wes, they telephone him) who has covered technology, gaming, and amusement steadily since 2020 astatine Gizmodo, Tom's Hardware, Hardcore Gamer, and astir recently, The Verge. Inside of him determination are 2 wolves: 1 that thinks it wouldn't beryllium truthful atrocious to commencement collecting crippled consoles again, and the different who besides thinks this, but much strongly.