ASUS Responds To Rumors It Will Make DRAM To Alleviate The Memory Crisis
Sorry folks, but ASUS is not likely to save us from the current DRAM crisis that is expected to not only persist through all of next year, but potentially far beyond. Rumor has it that ASUS is toying with the idea of making its own DRAM chip production line to serve the consumer market, which if true, could help alleviate the shortage. However, ASUS purportedly shot down the rumor nearly as fast as it arose.
If you haven't shopped a kit of DDR5 memory lately, do yourself and favor and avoid doing so now, lest you have an affinity for sticker shock. DDR5 memory kit pricing has skyrocketed over the past several weeks as manufacturers shift their focus to feeding the increasingly hungry and more lucrative AI market.
To make matters worse, Micron is ending its consumer-facing Crucial brand after 29 years to focus on data center customers. And both Micron and G.Skill recently discussed the challenges of procurement and sudden rise of sourcing costs.
So what's this about ASUS getting into the game? A recent report by Persian tech outlet Sakhtafzarmag (as spotted by WCCFTech) claimed ASUS "does intend to be just a spectator" of the memory crisis, with plans of producing its own memory modules.
Translated text specifically says "modules" and not DRAM chips, which is an important differentiator. If ASUS were to get in the business of making its own brand memory modules, it would have to contend with the same limited supply of chips as every other player, like Corsair, G.Skill, Kingston, and so forth.
If, on the other hand, it was considering DRAM chip production like many reports assumed, that would present its own set of challenges. It might all be moot anyway. The folks at CNYes Taiwan claim to have obtained an official response by ASUS saying it has no plans to invest in memory fabs or enter the upstream semiconductor manufacturing market.
It's still possible that ASUS may want to offer its own brand memory modules, but we see that as unlikely. Even so, we've reached out to ASUS for more clarification and will update this article when/if we hear back.
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