Micron Technology Inc. (MU) is killing off its Crucial consumer brand, and the reason is pretty straightforward: AI chips are where the money is, and the company can't keep up with demand as it is.
The memory chipmaker announced it will stop selling Crucial-branded products through retailers, online stores, and distributors globally. If you've been eyeing that Crucial SSD or RAM upgrade, you've got until the end of Micron's fiscal second quarter in February 2026 to grab one. After that, the consumer business is toast.
Don't worry if you already own Crucial products, though. Micron says it will maintain warranty service and support, and the company will keep selling its enterprise-focused Micron-branded products to commercial customers. This isn't about abandoning memory entirely, it's about choosing which customers get priority.
Following the AI Money
Sumit Sadana, Micron's Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, pointed to the surge in AI-driven data center demand as the catalyst for refocusing resources. When you're seeing that kind of growth, selling memory sticks to gamers and PC builders starts looking less attractive.
The company framed the exit as aligning its portfolio with "long-term, profitable growth opportunities" in memory and storage. Translation: enterprise and data center customers pay more and order in vastly larger quantities than consumers do, especially now that AI is eating the world.
The numbers back up this strategic shift. Micron stock has rocketed over 178% year-to-date, driven largely by growing adoption of its high-bandwidth memory chips in AI applications. When your stock more than doubles because of one market segment, it makes sense to double down on that segment.
Micron said it plans to minimize employee impact by offering redeployment opportunities into open roles within the company, suggesting the goal is resource reallocation rather than simple cost-cutting.
Automotive AI Gets Faster
While exiting one business, Micron is pushing hard into another: automotive AI. The company is now shipping qualification samples of its high-speed UFS 4.1 storage solution to customers worldwide.
The new automotive storage doubles bandwidth to 4.2 GB/s compared to previous generations, enabling faster AI processing for voice assistants, personalized infotainment systems, safety alerts, advanced driver assistance systems, and autonomous driving features. Built on Micron's ninth-generation 3D NAND technology, the UFS 4.1 represents what the company calls a new benchmark for performance and reliability in next-generation vehicles.
It's another sign of where Micron sees its future: not in helping you upgrade your gaming rig, but in powering the AI systems that will run everything from data centers to the car in your driveway.
MU Price Action: Micron Technology shares were down 2.42% at $233.69 at the time of publication on Wednesday.