SK hynix to boost DRAM production by a huge 8x in 2026, still won't be enough for RAM shortages

SK hynix is one of the largest DRAM manufacturers on the planet, and while it has invested tens of billions of dollars on its semiconductor prowess, the South Korean memory giant is set to increase DRAM production by a factor of 8x in the near future due to DRAM shortages and skyrocketing prices on every product with DRAM inside of it.

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In a new report published by Korean media outlet Hankyung, SK hynix has plans to increase its DRAM production capacity by more than 8x by 2026, in order to meet the demand of CSPs and companies like NVIDIA and AMD, which both make graphics cards and AI GPUs, both using more and more of the most advanced DRAM on the planet with HBM4 onwards, and GDDR7 onwards.

This falls in line with rumors that we wrote about back in June 2024, that there was a coming DRAM memory shortage, as manufacturers were pushing all-in on HBM production for HBM memory. Then just this September 2025, NVIDIA reportedly asked Samsung to double its GDDR7 production, ready for its new B40 AI GPU for China.

In the article from June 2024, I wrote: "The general-purpose DRAM memory chip market is important for the PC industry as a whole. According to the new report, we could expect worldwide shortages of regular DRAM. We are almost sure this is going to cause a price increase in RAM, whether that's immediate, short-term, or long-term. It's almost inevitable".

• Read more: SK hynix's vision as Full Stack AI Memory Creator: custom HBM, AI DRAM, AI NAND
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• Read more: SK hynix ramps 1c DRAM to 6 EUV layers, preps for High-NA EUV designs for HBM
• Read more: SK hynix DRAM memory chip roadmap for the next 30 years: 4F2VG tech, 3D DRAM
• Read more: SK hynix HBM roadmap teases HBM5, HBM5E, GDDR7-Next, DDR6, 400-layer 4D NAND in 2029-2031

"If you're in the market for some new RAM for your gaming PC, then I suggest thinking about grabbing a decent kit as soon as you can, especially if prices start skyrocketing. This is just as Intel is about to launch its next-gen Core Ultra 200 series "Arrow Lake" desktop CPUs and AMD with its Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" CPUs, all of which require new DDR5 memory".

Fast forward to today, and RAM prices have gone through the roof... RAM shortages and new price levels for building a new system or upgrading your current PC.

SK hynix's increased DRAM capacity will be used extensively for GDDR7 memory modules and low-power SOCAMM memory, which has been experiencing unbelievable demand from AI servers over the last few months. It's also not just SK hynix that is boosting DRAM production capacity, with both Samsung and Micron rapidly increasing their respective DRAM production numbers.