[DigitalToday reporter Jinju Hong (홍진주)] As artificial intelligence spreads and demand for memory chips surges, semiconductor companies are enjoying record-level booms, while prices for major electronic devices such as those from Apple and Microsoft are rising. The industry expects that if AI investment continues to expand, the rise in electronics prices felt by consumers could also be prolonged.

SiliconANGLE reported on June 26 that expanding investment in AI infrastructure is driving a boom across the semiconductor supply chain, centered on the memory market. The trend is beginning to affect finished-product prices, not just chipmakers' earnings.

Memory makers were the first to benefit. Micron recently posted quarterly results far exceeding market expectations, sending its shares up about 16 percent on June 26. SiliconANGLE said Micron's related revenue rose about fourfold as AI demand expanded.

SK Hynix has also moved to expand investment while pursuing a U.S. stock market listing. The outlet said SK Hynix is pursuing a U.S. initial public offering worth about $29.6 billion.

Consumers, meanwhile, are feeling the impact of the AI boom in the form of price hikes. Apple recently raised prices for Macs and iPads, and Microsoft also lifted prices for Xbox consoles. SiliconANGLE said a recent boom in the memory market has made "most electronic devices suddenly more expensive," citing Apple and Microsoft products as representative examples.

The expansion of AI investment is also spreading beyond memory to the broader AI semiconductor market. OpenAI unveiled a custom inference AI chip called Halapeño produced by Broadcom, and Qualcomm announced 2 new AI chips for data centers. AI chip startup Groq raised $650 million in new funding.

Listed AI chip company Cerebras, however, has seen its share price weaken after its earnings release, showing differences in performance by company even within the AI semiconductor market.

Competition in manufacturing technology is also intensifying. IBM unveiled a next-generation chip architecture it claims is the world's first semiconductor technology below 1 nanometer. The company expects the technology could change the direction of semiconductor design over the next 10 years.

Semiconductor equipment maker Applied Materials also introduced new equipment for a 3D stacking packaging process for AI chips. The analysis is that rising demand for AI computing is simultaneously growing not only memory but also the packaging and manufacturing equipment markets.

The enterprise AI market is also expanding rapidly. HelloTwin unveiled a "Responsible AI Twin" that manages corporate data as a single integrated information system. Related services that support the operation and verification of AI agents are also increasing rapidly, and SiliconANGLE called it the "next-generation cybersecurity front."

AI investment also appears to be expanding across industries. Google decided to invest $75 million in film production company A24 to support AI-based content creation, and AI company Argentum AI drew market attention by announcing an AI infrastructure contract worth $7.8 billion.

Ultimately, expanding AI investment is creating new growth opportunities across the supply chain, from memory and data center semiconductors to manufacturing equipment and enterprise software.

But as the semiconductor industry's boom continues, consumers are also more likely to have to endure longer-lasting price increases for electronic devices such as smartphones, PCs and game consoles. With the industry expecting AI infrastructure investment to continue for the time being, it sees the memory supply-demand imbalance and the burden of higher electronics prices as unlikely to be resolved quickly.