Intel and Sandisk have very different views about what's going on in memory chips

Two must-listen earnings calls from two big names in tech. Two very different views on what's going on in memory chips. One outcome for both stocks: Big declines.

Intel ( INTC ) stock is getting torched in premarket trading on Friday, falling 26%, after the company warned of sluggish PC sales in the current quarter. At the core of that warning is consumer resistance to the higher PC prices stemming from the memory chip shortage.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan sees more challenging quarters ahead due to memory chip dynamics.

"Our customers began signaling a PC slowdown based on the memory prices and availability," Tan said. "Year-to-date system endpoint prices have increased significantly, placing additional pressure on already limited IT budgets. The pace of this PC correction has accelerated over the last two months as our OEM partners are aggressively managing inventory to match the softer sell-through."

"We expect the current environment to persist until memory availability and prices begin to normalize," Tan added. "While the next few quarters will be challenging for the PC market, our roadmap continues to strengthen, and our long-term outlook remains positive."

On the other hand, hop onto the earnings call late Thursday from memory chipmaker Sandisk ( SNDK ), and you would've heard that there is no memory chip shortage at all. Or, at the very least, things stand to improve nicely in the months ahead.

"We think our internal models are every segment in the NAND market," Sandisk CEO David Goeckeler said. "PCs, smartphones, data center will all show positive growth next year because content per device continues to go up as part of that is mixing to premium."

He added, "So there is no doubt there has been a market adjustment. In many ways, as I said, from a unit basis, we are in the teeth of that on a year-over-year basis, but we see improvement from here."

Sandisk shares are trading down 8% in premarket trading, likely in sympathy with the Intel warning.

So who is right here on memory? The truth lies somewhere in the middle.

But it is clear that a shortage benefits no one, especially Intel and Sandisk shareholders.

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