Memory Chip Rally in Micron, SanDisk, SK Hynix Echoes Past Boom-Bust Cycles

Memory chipmakers Micron, SanDisk and SK Hynix have rallied together, and two separate pieces of analysis published this week frame the move against the sector's long history of boom-and-bust pricing cycles. Memory chips, the semiconductors that store data in computers and servers, have historically swung between shortage and glut roughly every few years as manufacturers over- and under-build capacity in response to price signals. The analyses agree that history points to an eventual correction but diverge on timing and cause. One frames the current rally as following the same script that has preceded past collapses. The other argues explicitly that "this time does look different," pointing to AI-driven demand for high-bandwidth memory as a structural shift rather than the ordinary cyclical restocking that has driven prior rallies. What's unresolved is whether AI datacenter demand is large and durable enough to prevent the usual capacity overbuild that has ended every previous memory cycle. Neither analysis provides a specific price or production figure marking where the current cycle stands relative to past peaks.