It’s the end of an era as one of the largest PC memory and storage manufacturers has announced it will leave the consumer market in 2026. AI has claimed yet another victim with promises of infinite riches and opportunities, as Crucial’s parent company, Micron, has announced that it plans to exit the consumer business next year. This announcement comes at a time when AI needs are consuming memory and storage supplies at never-before-seen rates, causing prices within the consumer market to double and nearly triple.
“The AI-driven growth in the data center has led to a surge in demand for memory and storage. Micron has made the difficult decision to exit the Crucial consumer business in order to improve supply and support for our larger, strategic customers in faster-growing segments,”
– Sumit Sadana, EVP and Chief Business Officer at Micron Technology
Micron has said in its press release that it intends to continue shipping Crucial products through the end of February 2026 and will work closely with its partners to fulfill orders and warranty support. Micron adds that this transition is to support its ongoing and long-term transformation and growth in the business sector, i.e., whatever it takes to fulfill the wishes of the AI overlords for as much profit as possible, but consumers shouldn’t feel too bad, as Micron has given thanks for their support.
“Thanks to a passionate community of consumers, the Crucial brand has become synonymous with technical leadership, quality and reliability of leading-edge memory and storage products. We would like to thank our millions of customers, hundreds of partners and all of the Micron team members who have supported the Crucial journey for the last 29 years.”
Micron has also said that it will work with staff from Crucial to “redeploy” them within the company in an effort to minimize the impact resulting from the soon-to-be-dissolved brand. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen what the other players in the PC memory and storage are planning, as there’s sure to be further developments given the ongoing supply shortages and price hikes.