The AI boom is fueling a record-breaking surge in the memory market, pushing its revenue to more than double that of the global foundry industry, according to TrendForce. Memory market revenue is projected to reach $551.6 billion in 2026, significantly outpacing the $218.7 billion forecast for the foundry sector. This marks a stark contrast to the 2017-2019 memory cycle, which was driven by cloud data centers and resulted in a narrower gap. The current AI-driven supercycle is far more supply-constrained and structurally tighter, with demand resilience and pricing power far exceeding the 2017 cycle.