Chipmakers urge White House to avoid broad memory market interventions

A chip industry association has urged the White House not to make major changes to the way the memory market is regulated.

The group, SEMI, represents most of the world’s major semiconductor equipment and materials companies as well as chipmakers. Bloomberg reported late Thursday that the association had outlined its concerns about the memory market in a letter to the Trump administration. The document was addressed to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Memory prices have increased sharply over the past year because of surging demand from artificial intelligence data center builders. The higher prices are affecting not only the server market but also other segments. In December, S&P Global Inc. predicted that vehicle DRAM could become 100% more expensive by the end of 2027. More recently, Apple Inc. raised the price of several devices.

In its letter, SEMI urged the White House to avoid memory “interventions that distort pricing or capacity decisions.” The group argues that such moves would harm the market. SEMI stated that officials should take other, narrower measures to address the memory supply crunch.

The consortium called on the White House to push for tax deductions or credits that would lower the price of consumer electronics. Additionally, SEMI argued in favor of the long-term purchase contracts that some companies use to source memory chips. The association counts the world’s three largest DRAM suppliers, Micron Inc., SK hynix Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co, among its members.

Much of the demand from data center builders focuses on a specific type of DRAM known as high-bandwidth memory. It’s based on the same circuit architecture as standard memory but differs in other areas. Whereas a regular DRAM module is a single chip, an HBM device comprises up to a dozen DRAM chips stacked atop one another. The chips are placed on a foundation called a logic die that optimizes the flow of data.

HBM modules can move data to and from the attached processor significantly faster than standard DRAM. That makes them well-suited for AI applications, which generate more memory traffic than other workloads. HBM modules are usually placed immediately next to a graphics card’s logic circuits to further speed up the flow of data.

SEMI stated in its letter that the chip industry expects to grow memory production capacity by 19% annually going forward. Nevertheless, demand is expected to exceed supply for the foreseeable future.

Micron plans to invest $200 billion in up to six new stateside fabs. The company is also upgrading an existing memory factory in Virginia. The plant recently started making DRAM chips based on Micron’s newest manufacturing process, which uses a technique called multi-patterning to etch circuits into silicon wafers. The technology relies on an elaborate sequence of laser pulses to form transistor-shaped patterns.

Micron is expanding its capacity to make not only memory chips but also HBM packaging. That’s the technology used to link together multiple DRAM chips into a single HBM module. Last year, Micron broke ground on a $7 billion packaging facility in Singapore that is expected to start mass production by the end of 2027.

SK hynix and Samsung, for their part, plan to double their memory production capacity over the next five years. The push is part of a $584 billion chip manufacturing initiative that the South Korean government launched this week. The project will see SK hynix and Samsung build four new fabs.

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