Micron Announces DDR4 Sunset Amid Stronger‑Than‑Ever Demand

[AleksandarK]

Micron has informed its customers that its DDR4 memory products will reach the end of life in the coming quarters, with shipments expected to taper off over the next six to nine months. This announcement aligns Micron with the earlier plans of Samsung and SK Hynix to discontinue DDR4 production and focus on next-generation memory solutions, such as DDR5, LPDDR5, and high-bandwidth memory. In a recent interview, Micron's Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, Sumit Sadana, acknowledged that the phase‑out comes at a time when demand for DDR4 remains unexpectedly strong. He noted that shortages of both DDR4 and LPDDR4 modules have driven spot-market prices to levels that, in some cases, exceed those of newer DDR5 products.

To address this imbalance, Micron will prioritize supply for long‑term partners in the automotive, industrial, and networking sectors, where product reliability and contract stability are critical. The retirement of DDR4 has been partly driven by competitive pressure from Chinese memory manufacturers, which have flooded the market with lower‑cost modules. Yet, these newcomers may face challenges in matching the quality, long-term support, and volume capabilities that established players provide. Micron is urging its customer base to transition to DDR5 and LPDDR5 products, which have reached competitive price points and offer superior bandwidth and energy efficiency.



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[bonehead123]

OH yea, the ole supply & demand thingy again, well, shoot

Supply goes down, prices go up, as does demand.....just what they want, so they can justify selling the so-called "old stuff" at premium prices.....I'm soooo glad I bought a buttload of DDR4 back when the prices bottomed out last year, for upcoming client rigs this year

Yea, it happens over & over again with virtually every generation of tech, but if they REALLY want DDR5, HBM etc sales (to consumers) to take off, just get the prices down quicker, to the same or lower than the prices of the old stuff when it peaked, and that will solve that problem for them....and this in turn will help offset the increased costs of new mobo's that support the "new" stuff.

YES, I know it's getting there, but just not fast enough IMO....

 

[LabRat 891]

Wat.

There's way too many in-support platforms that utilize DDR4.

In a recent interview, Micron's Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, Sumit Sadana, acknowledged that the phase‑out comes at a time when demand for DDR4 remains unexpectedly strong.

Clearly, they even recognize that. What on Earth on they thinking?!

 

[maxli86]

This really sucks there are still many DDR4 platform including Intel LGA 1700 DDR4 motherboard as well as AMD AM4 platform.
Which still can brought so by than DDR4 will cease than these motherboard will also stop selling?

 

[Pets4Ever]

This murders AM4 no? They're still releasing new AM4 CPUs

 

[Rover4444]

Yeah new AM4 CPUs are coming out but they're shutting down DDR4 production?

 

[trsttte]

Clearly, they even recognize that. What on Earth on they thinking?!

They're thinking that it's been long enough and they rather not be left holding the bag when everyone finally moves off DDR4/LPDDR4

This murders AM4 no? They're still releasing new AM4 CPUs

It will take some time for DDR4 stocks to end even after the EOL by Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung. AM4 had a great run - heck I'm still happily using it - but at some point it has to end.

 

[mb194dc]

No reason for most to upgrade, little demand for ddr5, tech progress rapidly slowing down...

 

[Daven]

They're thinking that it's been long enough and they rather not be left holding the bag when everyone finally moves off DDR4/LPDDR4



It will take some time for DDR4 stocks to end even after the EOL by Micron, SK Hynix and Samsung. AM4 had a great run - heck I'm still happily using it - but at some point it has to end.

The article says the demand is from the automotive, industrial and networking sectors not the super small DIY PC building market.

Micron doesn’t give a crap about AM4 rigs.

 

[trsttte]

The article says the demand is from the automotive, industrial and networking sectors not the super small DIY PC building market.

Micron doesn’t give a crap about AM4 rigs.

No, the article says the demand exists and some shortage is pushing spot prices up, but they don't care and are EOL'ing the products anyway focusing deliveries on automotive, industrial and networking until they get their act together and upgrade (and more importantly until the suply contracts run their course )

Of course they don't give a crap about AM4 rigs, but they do look at industry trends like AMD having just released the 5500X3D for south america and other less developed markets - and of course proceeded to not give 2 fucks about it because there are enough chinese cheap modules available to serve that market and they rather it is them holding the bag when demand dries than be on the hook with a product no one will want very soon.

 

[LabRat 891]

The article says the demand is from the automotive, industrial and networking sectors not the super small DIY PC building market.

Micron doesn’t give a crap about AM4 rigs.

Your statement, doesn't follow.

https://www.amd.com/en/products/embedded/ryzen/ryzen-5000-series.html

-AM4 includes Industrial, Enterprise, and other Embedded applications.

NtM, DDR4 is used by a large swath of older Xeons and the first couple generations of EPYC.

 

[HellraiserCherry]

Recently built a x299 system for quad sli and bought 8x16GB trident z royal ddr4 ram. Warranty sticker had 2025 Apr on it so i guess ddr4 is still pretty relevant.

 

[TheinsanegamerN]

This really sucks there are still many DDR4 platform including Intel LGA 1700 DDR4 motherboard as well as AMD AM4 platform.
Which still can brought so by than DDR4 will cease than these motherboard will also stop selling?

OK, so how many in the DIY space are buying INTO a platform that has been made obsolete by 2 generations of new CPU? How many is that compared to the number of DIYers buying into intel 15th gen chips or AMD 7000/9000 series chips? How many OEM PCs are shipping with DDR4 today?

OH yea, the ole supply & demand thingy again, well, shoot

Supply goes down, prices go up, as does demand.....just what they want, so they can justify selling the so-called "old stuff" at premium prices.....I'm soooo glad I bought a buttload of DDR4 back when the prices bottomed out last year, for upcoming client rigs this year

Yea, it happens over & over again with virtually every generation of tech, but if they REALLY want DDR5, HBM etc sales (to consumers) to take off, just get the prices down quicker, to the same or lower than the prices of the old stuff when it peaked, and that will solve that problem for them....and this in turn will help offset the increased costs of new mobo's that support the "new" stuff.

YES, I know it's getting there, but just not fast enough IMO....

So, if you want DDR5 prices to come down, you need to make it, right? Where do you suppose they might get that manufacturing capacity, hmmm? Maybe....from the DDR4 facilities that they are now shutting down to move to DDR5?

As you said, this happens with every generation of memory. DDR4 came out in 2015 with skylake. That was 10 YEARS AGO. DDR4 had a very long life compared to DDR3, or 2. We've had 2 generations of CPU from AMD that use DDR5. It's time to move on.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

YES, I know it's getting there, but just not fast enough IMO

My prediction is price of DDR5 to be fall enough in 2027 because launch of first consumer series with DDR6. Will be long waiting.

 

[redeye]

great made a "mistake" going with am4... should have gone AM5, even though it was 100-200 more for a complete AMD system... oh well... i even bought a 5800XT, to replace the 5700G i was using so i could get pcie4, (a 5700g does not have pcie4... (i did not read the fine print)... lol

 

[mechtech]

hmmmmm do I buy a cheap 32gig kit and throw it on the shelf now while they are still cheap??

 

[Solaris17]

Wat.

There's way too many in-support platforms that utilize DDR4.

Clearly, they even recognize that. What on Earth on they thinking?!

I can only imagine its because demand for DDR5 and newer memory products in general are beginning to rise and they want the assembly line space.

 

[Hyderz]

DDR4 is still being produced just not as much as its to, there are a few reputable brands selling them..

 

[Fourstaff]

Lets see if they want free money by producing DDR4 longer than planned, or if that completely rips their plan apart. If they have bought DDR5 tools already, they are not going to leave the new tools in the warehouse for too long.

 

[Alyux]

This makes me want to pick up another 2x8 3200 CL16 kit for my friend who's still on AM4 with 2x8GB and isn't moving off it anytime soon, but then again, that's exactly what Micron wants people to do.

 

[efikkan]

Stronger than ever demand? Really? When the server market has moved on? I think it's more like stronger than expected.

I'm glad I just secured another 64 GB for my Zen 3 system, it took 4 days even though it wasn't even in stock.

Yeah new AM4 CPUs are coming out but they're shutting down DDR4 production?

This market is tiny.
And in the past year most SKUs have been discontinued, leaving mostly a handful of 2666 and 3200 MHz modules available. Speeds like 2800 and 2933 MHz are mostly gone already.

No reason for most to upgrade, little demand for ddr5, tech progress rapidly slowing down...

If anything, DDR4 was very slow to progress, while DDR5 is advancing very quickly right now. CPU support just hit 6400 MHz last year, and we might get ~8000 MHz with Nova Lake (not counting MRDIMMs). In pretty much any heavy load the demand for more bandwidth is strong.

Gamers on DDR4-platforms might hold on for a while, but sooner or later the CPU will fall short or the memory capacity will run out. But at the very least it's a testament to the great value of the Coffee Lake/Comet Lake series.

 

[DudeBeFishing]

Meh, their sub timings are too high anyway. There's plenty of supply on the used market if you're not picky.

 

[blinnbanir]

Is there not still plenty of supply of DDR4? Even if production stops it is still represented strongly in retail channels.