Broadcom Shares Slide on Memory Cost Fears, Launches Jalapeño AI Chip Project
AVGO•Broadcom shares declined on June 26 as semiconductor peers fell following a sell-off driven by rising memory prices, with Micron and Western Digital losing over 6% and 7% respectively. Broadcom also announced a partnership with OpenAI to co-develop the Jalapeño AI inference chip for gigawatt-scale data centers in 2026.
1. Sector Sell-Off Over Rising Memory Prices
On June 26, semiconductor stocks retreated as investors grew concerned about rising memory costs squeezing margins, with Micron and Western Digital falling over 6% and 7% respectively. Broadcom's shares dipped alongside peers like Nvidia, AMD, Intel and Marvell.
2. Consumer Price Hikes Pressure Chip Margins
Apple raised product prices to offset surging memory costs and Microsoft increased Xbox prices, signaling that higher component expenses may be passed through to end customers and potentially dampening demand for memory chips.
3. Broadcom-OpenAI Partnership for Jalapeño AI Chip
Broadcom and OpenAI unveiled a jointly developed Jalapeño inference chip designed from scratch to enhance large-language model performance. The chip targets deployment in gigawatt-scale data centers starting in 2026, aiming to improve efficiency and affordability of AI services.
