The historic collapse of the storage industry has dealt a blow to memory companies

The memory chip industry, known for its boom and bust cycles, has changed its ways, according to Bloomberg. "Tighter regulation and new markets for products, namely 5G technology and cloud services, will ensure more predictable earnings for the company," the memory company's statement came less than a year after the $160 billion industry was suffering. One of the worst setbacks ever: Oversupply of chips in stock, customers cut back on orders, and product prices plummeted.

The unprecedented crisis has not only drained funds from industry leaders SK Hynix and Micron Technology, but has also shaken the companies' suppliers, crippling Asian economies dependent on technology exports and forcing the few remaining memory players to Form alliances, even form alliances to consider mergers.

Every chip made by Samsung Electronics and its rivals is losing money. Their collective operating loss this year is expected to hit a record $5 billion. Inventories more than tripled to a record three-to-four-month supply.

However, Samsung remains the only memory company that is generally unaffected thanks to its large and diversified business, but its semiconductor division is also set to lose money. Samsung will report its fourth-quarter earnings on Tuesday, followed by a conference call where analysts are likely to question its capacity management plans.

Micron, a U.S. maker of memory chips, said late last month that in addition to reducing production, it would cut budgets for new plants and equipment. CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said the pace at which the industry evolves itself will depend on how quickly the company's peers take similar action.

In addition, SK Hynix has also cut investment and reduced production. Part of the reason for the company's excess inventory is its acquisition of Intel Corp's flash memory business -- a deal that came before the industry's downturn.

The memory industry has had mergers and acquisitions during previous economic downturns, and this time is no exception. Deal talks between NAND makers Western Digital and Kioxia are progressing, people familiar with the matter said this month.