- The chairman of a top memory chip maker has issued a worrying warning
- Chey Tae-won notes: “We need some time to build up more wafers, at least four to five years”
- That’s a more pessimistic prediction than analyst firms give
One of the leading manufacturers of memory chips in the world believes that a shortage of RAM supply and the associated price crisis may last the rest of this decade.
Pakinomist reports that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won made the depressing prediction that the RAM crisis may not be over until 2030.
Chey said: “So we need some time to build more wafers, at least four to five years. The current shortage may continue until 2030, so we expect more than 20% shortage of wafers.”
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This refers to the wafers used to make memory chips, and a particular difficulty right now is that AI is creating a high demand for a particular type of RAM, namely HBM or high-bandwidth memory. SK Hynix, a division of SK Group, is the main supplier of HBM to Nvidia.
Chey explained, “The AI actually wants a lot of HBM, and once you make the HBM… we’re going to need a lot of wafers.”
SK Hynix is one of the three major RAM manufacturers in the world, the others being Samsung and Micron.
Analysis: a worrying prediction – but SK Hynix has a plan
There’s a lot of profit in selling this memory for AI use – far more than with consumer RAM, of course – and so the priorities are skewed, with the latter getting worse.
Chey predicts that AI demand will continue to stretch supplies to the extent that it will take four years to build production to keep up with the supply needed for the AI industry as well as consumer products.
While we’ve seen predictions that the RAM crisis will continue until 2028, we’ve heard hints that it could be longer – and the SK Group chairman has certainly laid out a worrying extension to that timeframe here.
On a more positive note, Chey also indicated that SK Hynix is formulating a plan to try to stabilize RAM prices. An announcement to that effect will come from the CEO, we’re told, and hopefully soon.
In the short term, however, the situation in the Middle East and its effect on energy prices is not likely to make things easier for the supply chain in terms of the cost of getting RAM out there.
MSI just called 2026 the ‘most challenging year since the company was founded’ in terms of the major problems the memory crunch is causing, and it’s expected to affect shipment numbers for the company’s budget gaming laptops.
The best laptops for all budgets
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