Micron is pivoting to AI chips, will kill off Crucial consumer brand in 2026

Micron is pitching towards the higher margin AI memory business, and is killing off the beloved Crucial consumer brand.
AI chips are much more profitable than consumer grade products, so Micron is changing turf. (Picture: Micron)
Micron has decided that selling consumer memory chips isn’t profitable enough, in an AI world screaming for as many HBM-chips as at all possible.

— The AI-driven growth in the data center has led to a surge in demand for memory and storage, says Sumit Sadana, EVP and Chief Business Officer at Micron Technology in a press release.

«Difficult decision»
They say they have «made the difficult decision to exit the Crucial consumer business» in order to support customers in «faster-growing segments,» which means they are reorganizing to produce and sell more HBM memory for the AI business.

This comes as a backdrop with AI gobbling up all available memory on the market, causing regular consumer RAM sticks to skyrocket in price, and this move will likely not make it any better for PC builders.

Crucial has been making consumer grade RAM and SSDs since 1996, Ars Technica writes, and is regarded as a high quality brand.

It will now cease operations in Februrary 2026, but Micron says they will still honor warranties. You just won’t be able to buy new ones.

Read more: Reuters, The Verge and Ars Technica.