{"id":557949,"date":"2026-07-19T20:09:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T20:09:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/557949\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T20:09:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T20:09:18","slug":"a-hidden-threat-for-micron-apple-is-eyeing-a-fix-for-ai-memory-demands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/557949\/","title":{"rendered":"A Hidden Threat for Micron? Apple Is Eyeing a Fix for AI Memory Demands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Apple (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/quote\/nasdaq\/aapl\/\" class=\"font-bold hover:underline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">AAPL<\/a> +0.26%) recently raised prices on many of its devices to offset rising memory prices, but it may have found a fix for soaring costs. A recent CNBC report said the company is in talks with an AI start-up that reduces on-device memory demands by 15x.<\/p>\n<p>Squeezing vastly more memory processing capabilities from the same amount of memory could be bad news for Micron Technology (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/quote\/nasdaq\/mu\/\" class=\"font-bold hover:underline\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MU<\/a> +0.04%). Here&#8217;s what both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/stocks\/apple-stock-forecast\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple<\/a> and Micron investors should know.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Micron logo on a blue background with palm trees in front of the company's headquarters. \" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"880\" height=\"587\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"h-auto max-w-full rounded object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784491757_855_.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"caption\">Image source: The Motley Fool.<\/p>\n<p>Apple is trying to fix a stubborn problem<\/p>\n<p>Apple recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/06\/29\/apple-just-raised-prices-because-of-a-chip-shortag\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">increased the prices<\/a> of many of its devices to keep pace with soaring memory costs. Demand for memory chips has risen sharply as tech giants continue their massive build-out of AI data centers.<\/p>\n<p>Apple wants to keep the high margins it commands on its products. To maintain them amid rising memory chip costs, it raised its computer prices by $200 or more. And it could increase iPhone prices for the same reason later this year.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s no wonder, then, that Apple is on the hunt for a fix for its memory problems. And it may have found it in an AI start-up called PrismML. The company says its technology reduces memory usage for AI models by up to 15x while delivering responses up to 8x faster.<\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s no concrete deal or partnership between Apple and PrismML right now. Still, if Apple ends up using the technology, or something similar, it could help the company deliver advanced on-device <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/06\/11\/apple-will-make-billions-from-ai-in-these-2-ways-i\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Siri AI features<\/a> without adding more expensive memory.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Apple Stock Quote\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"w-full flex-none object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784491758_925_.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s Change<\/p>\n<p>(0.26%) $0.88<\/p>\n<p>Current Price<\/p>\n<p>$334.14<\/p>\n<p>Key Data Points<\/p>\n<p>Market Cap<\/p>\n<p>$4.9TMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.<\/p>\n<p>Day&#8217;s Range<\/p>\n<p>$329.02 &#8211; $334.99<\/p>\n<p>52wk Range<\/p>\n<p>$201.50 &#8211; $334.99<\/p>\n<p>Volume<\/p>\n<p>2.8M<\/p>\n<p>Avg Vol<\/p>\n<p>54.8M<\/p>\n<p>Gross Margin<\/p>\n<p>47.86%<\/p>\n<p>Dividend Yield<\/p>\n<p>0.31%<\/p>\n<p>Tech companies are very motivated to reduce memory costs<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/how-to-invest\/stocks\/how-to-invest-in-micron-technology-stock\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Micron<\/a> has enjoyed a surge in demand for memory for AI data centers, causing a shortage of memory processors. That shortage, in turn, has allowed Micron to charge more for its memory chips.<\/p>\n<p>The result has been soaring profits for Micron, with non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) earnings per share skyrocketing more than 1,200% to $25.11 per share in the third quarter of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>If PrismML and Apple (or another company) eventually implement technology across tech devices that increased efficiency and reduces memory demand, it could threaten <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/05\/14\/the-profit-margins-for-these-3-ai-infrastructure-s\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Micron&#8217;s profit margins, <\/a>which are currently at an enviable 74%.<\/p>\n<p>Still, it&#8217;s probably too early for investors to worry. For one, the technology would have to be implemented across a wide range of devices from many different tech companies for it to impact Micron&#8217;s business.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s more, and potentially most importantly, even if Apple and others implement more memory efficiencies, memory demand could still rise. The memory processor market is estimated to increase to more than $1 trillion next year, up from $230 billion in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Micron&#8217;s management believes that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/2026\/07\/16\/micron-technology-ai-memory-demand-is-still-in-the\/\" class=\"text-cyan-900 hover:text-cyan-800\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">autonomous vehicles and robotics<\/a> will drive a new wave of demand for memory. In short, even if more efficient memory processing is around the corner, there are already growing tech markets that could keep demand high.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Micron Technology Stock Quote\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"64\" height=\"64\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"w-full flex-none object-contain\" style=\"color:transparent\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784491758_252_.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Today&#8217;s Change<\/p>\n<p>(0.04%) $0.37<\/p>\n<p>Current Price<\/p>\n<p>$853.57<\/p>\n<p>Key Data Points<\/p>\n<p>Market Cap<\/p>\n<p>$959BMarket cap calculated using publicly traded shares outstanding only. Does not include unlisted, private, or dual-class non-traded shares. Implied market cap may vary.<\/p>\n<p>Day&#8217;s Range<\/p>\n<p>$804.01 &#8211; $903.88<\/p>\n<p>52wk Range<\/p>\n<p>$103.38 &#8211; $1255.00<\/p>\n<p>Volume<\/p>\n<p>2M<\/p>\n<p>Avg Vol<\/p>\n<p>51.8M<\/p>\n<p>Gross Margin<\/p>\n<p>72.60%<\/p>\n<p>Dividend Yield<\/p>\n<p>0.06%<\/p>\n<p>Apple and Micron investors should watch this space<\/p>\n<p>I suspect we&#8217;ll see a lot more technology in the next few years aimed at addressing memory demands. Apple has received a lot of attention for raising product prices, but all tech giants are feeling the effects of rising memory costs right now and are looking for a fix.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s unlikely that Apple will want to continue making big price hikes for its devices. So, it&#8217;ll either need to figure out how to make memory work more efficiently or absorb the rising costs. My money is on the former.<\/p>\n<p>For Micron investors, the latest news is a good reminder that some of the impressive earnings growth the company has enjoyed likely won&#8217;t last forever. I still think Micron has many long-term growth opportunities, but it&#8217;s unrealistic to assume profit growth can maintain its rapidly accelerating pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apple (AAPL +0.26%) recently raised prices on many of its devices to offset rising memory prices, but it&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":557950,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,80],"class_list":["post-557949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557949\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/557950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}