Crucial to End Consumer RAM Sales After 30 Years

The decision by Micron Technology to phase out its Crucial consumer brand marks a significant shift in the memory market, signaling a strategic pivot away from individual PC builders and toward the booming artificial intelligence sector. After nearly three decades, one of the most familiar names for do-it-yourself computer upgrades will cease operations by early 2026. This move underscores the immense pressure and financial incentives driving semiconductor manufacturers to prioritize the infrastructure needs of large-scale data centers over the traditional retail channel.

Sumit Sadana, Micron’s executive vice president and chief business officer, explained the rationale in a company statement, citing “the AI-driven growth in the data center” as the primary catalyst. He noted that this surge has created unprecedented demand for memory and storage components. To better allocate resources and supply, the company made what it described as a difficult choice to exit the consumer business entirely. This strategic reallocation is intended to bolster support for what Micron views as its larger, more strategically important customers operating in faster-growing market segments.

For consumers, the transition will be gradual. Micron has committed to continuing shipments of Crucial-branded RAM modules and solid-state drives through the end of its fiscal second quarter, which concludes in February 2026. The company will also honor all existing product warranties. Employees currently working within the Crucial consumer division are expected to be reassigned to other positions inside Micron. The corporation will maintain its focus on the enterprise market, continuing to sell Micron-branded products directly to commercial and data center clients.

The Crucial brand itself has a long history, launching in 1996 during the heyday of Intel’s Pentium processors. It served as Micron’s dedicated channel for selling memory and storage upgrades directly to end-users. Over time, its product portfolio expanded beyond basic RAM to include a wide array of storage solutions, such as SSDs, flash memory cards, and external portable drives. Micron’s roots in memory manufacturing stretch back even further, to 1981.

This strategic exit from the consumer space occurs against a backdrop of rapidly escalating memory prices, a trend that has squeezed the DIY PC market. Industry reports from late last year highlighted a dramatic increase in costs. For example, a standard 32GB kit of DDR5 RAM that retailed for approximately $82 in August has since skyrocketed to around $310. Higher-capacity kits have experienced even more severe price hikes. This inflationary pressure, largely fueled by the insatiable demand from AI infrastructure projects, has made the consumer segment less attractive for major manufacturers like Micron, who see far greater returns in supplying the data center industry.

(Source: Ars Technica)